Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 18, 2017

Happy Father's Day!

An undated photo of my father and I in sailor hats at my grandparent''s house. I recognize the furniture and wallpaper of that home! I'm thinking I was about two years old or so in this photo. My father was a great guy; a hard-working man who passed much too young. He's been gone around forty years now. I often wonder what he would think of the world today. I wish I had gotten to know him better on an adult child level, but that opportunity never really came.

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. Things here on the blog will be changing up this week.

Tomorrow is the cast reveal for Big Brother 19. Unfortunately, I won't be home from work until after 10pm and have to be up early for work on Tuesday. But I'll post what I can and should be all caught up by Wednesday, my day off. 

Life goes on here. Well, to think of it, that's a good thing. The alternative isn't really acceptable. Let's see ... what's been going on here?

Um. Um. They've been repainting the fire escapes at my apartment building. Ten years ago they did that. The last state five-year inspection passed them. Now they failed once again. I'm not quite sure how painting them increases a safety level, but there ya go. I also noticed the super doing lots of work in the apartment next door which was a showplace just over a year ago and the current tenant fought to keep the state inspector out. I wonder what happened.

I haven't heard anything about my apartment. I would guess I'll get word that they will need to replace my bathroom ceiling tiles, damaged from the last flooding from upstairs but not a current leak. I don't think there's anything else. I certainly hope they don't feel the need to paint. I hate my life disrupted.

The landlord/company raised my rent with the lease renewal. Yeah, I have an increase of $3 a month! Outrageous, I say. Heh. An ex-landlord here raised it $50 a month more every year he had the building. Now that I have the letter with the increase, I'm going to call the landlord office to complain about kids once again -- 1A and 3G. I see the security glass near 1A is now broken. (I think it was intact during the inspection.) NO, it's NOT okay to let your children run loose in the hallways. Be a parent, for gosh sakes! 

I'm also going to report Joe's apartment across the hall. I really think he might have passed (at a hospital, not in the apartment) and relative/friend squatters are in there. They put trash bags in the hallway for hours or even overnight before taking it to the dumpsters. There are people coming and going at all hours. Joe wouldn't accept that. He's definitely not there. They also threw out most of his stuff. I didn't want to complain until I got my rent increase/renewal notice because I don't want them to think I'm a chronic complainer. But things are going downhill after doing so well under this new owner. Sigh.

Oh! Something good! I bought an 8-speed tower fan with a remote control this past week. I LOVE IT! It works so well that I'm sure to save on some air conditioning bills this summer.

Onto the photos for this week ... clicking on an image will open a larger version in a gallery setting.

One open, three closed

The flower of an hour was closing as I caught this shot. They seem to actually be open for a bit more than an hour. In this shot, it's clear they are related to hibiscus.

New awnings

They installed awnings on Maria's and the adjacent restaurant on North Avenue. Nice, but now you can't really see the names on the businesses -- which is why I'm calling the one restaurant "adjacent." I forgot its name.

Where is he?

A solitary starling on a wire. She seems to be looking for someone.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 28, 2017

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. The latest season of Survivor finished up this past week and this week will wrap up The Amazing Race. Then I have a bit of a blogging rest until Big Brother starts up. The premiere for that is slated for June 28, but the cast information and such should start coming out a week before that. I'll be watching for news.

It's Memorial Day Weekend, with tomorrow being the official holiday. While it's turned into the unofficial start of the summer season and folks tend to have all kinds of fun plans for an extended weekend, we need to remember the reason behind the holiday. It's the time to honor and remember those who gave their lives in service to this country. My father and grandfather both served, but both made it home although they're both long gone now. I salute those who serve!

I myself actually have a weekend off. No, not a three or four day weekend -- just two days in a row. That's one more than I usually have, so I'll take it. I may or may not go to a cookout at a friend's home either today or tomorrow, weather permitting. I may just rest up and goof off for the two days. I don't know. I do know that I'm constantly tired. So, a rest will do me good.

My leg seems to be healing up nicely from the varicose vein treatment despite the fact I had to give up the thigh-high compression stocking due to it cutting into my skin and rolling down all the time. I've been wearing the knee high and hope that will suffice. My follow-up visit with the doctor will be this coming Friday.

Other than that, not a heck of a lot going on here. So, it's onto this week's photos -- clicking on an image will open a larger version in a gallery setting.

Stars and Stripes

An iris grows in Plainfield

As with so much that's beautiful in nature, these don't last long enough. At least I can capture the image. Berckman Street in Plainfield.

A bug on the marigolds

I'm not sure if the bug makes the shot or takes away a bit of the marigold magnificence.

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 14, 2017

Happy Mothers Day!

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

My best wishes for a happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there reading this! 

I didn't really take a ton of photos this past week. It was the week of my vascular surgeon procedure for my severe varicose veins on my right leg. The procedure (Varithena foam injection into the veins to collapse them) seems to have gone fine. But, right now I'm wrapped up tightly with foam cylinders under tight pressure bandaging under a thigh high compression stocking. I have no clue what the leg looks like under all of this. The back of my knee is severely itchy with no relief.  Due to my rather chunky (okay, fat) thighs, the top rubbery part of the stocking wants to roll up and cut into me.  I can't sleep well, not at all.

I have to keep the whole thing on until late this afternoon -- 48 hours from the procedure. Then I get to remove the bandages. But I'm supposed to wear this thigh-high stocking for two weeks, night and day. I'm not sure how that's going to work out.

I go to the hospital to have a Doppler ultrasound test on Thursday to make sure the procedure didn't create any blood clots and that it worked properly to close down the problem vein(s). 

I'm not in actual pain, per se. Just a heck of a lot of discomfort. Oh, well ... onto the photos. Clicking on an image will bring up a larger image.

Colorful lawn

Berckman Street in Plainfield

The deadly pollen shark

We need a bigger box of tissues. As seen looking for victims on East Front Street in Plainfield.

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Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 7, 2017

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

Another week in the life down. We've gone into a chilly time weather-wise as well as plenty of rain. One day (Thursday) we had nearly three inches of rain! I know that come August we'll be praying for rain. But, sheesh. Enough already. The saying is APRIL showers, not MAY downpours!

I thought it was storming late one night when my apartment building actually shook. I mistook it for thunder. Nope. Just Trump's entourage flying extremely low heading to Bedminster. His golf course is in the next county over, not all that far from my workplace. I know he'll never show up in Plainfield!

Last night when I got home from work, I noticed the yellow caution tapes were lining Watchung Avenue in anticipation of today's New Jersey State Bicycle Championship Race today in downtown Plainfield. If I felt better, I'd go take some photos of the action. This is the second year in a row that we've had the privilege of hosting the race. (And the second year I've missed it.) The weather is a bit chilly and skies are overcast but not really expecting rain. I'd say it's probably perfect weather for it. 

Some of the hall kids have already started again -- not really the ones from the overcrowded apartment in my hallway. I've got some names now -- Brian and Kevin from the third floor, Nigel from the first floor -- and will be calling the landlord's office tomorrow. Last night they were running back and forth (and back and forth) for almost two hours in the third floor hallway. You can hear that all the way down on the first floor when they run back and forth (and back and forth). Plus, when I came home from work one day I caught the three of them with a POGO STICK on the first floor! A pogo stick! That is SO not an indoor toy! I sent them outside with that. I notice that whatever parent(s) had to pay for the broken security glass in the back first floor door to the staircase must have paid for it. There's new glass.

I have just a three day work week ahead of me (yay!). It's not all fun and games, though. On Friday I have to go to the vascular surgeon for the first phase of healing my out of control varicose veins. I don't care about pretty. My legs are too scarred up from knee replacements and more to be "pretty." I just want to feel better! It's more of a treatment than a surgery, per se. I'll be getting Varithena foam shot into my great saphenous vein on my lower right leg. It will fill the vein, then collapse it. It sounds a lot easier to deal with than the old-fashioned vein stripping remedy! I'll be bandaged and wearing a thigh-high compression stocking for 48 hours afterward. I don't know if I'll be able to bend the leg much, but I guess I'll find out. I do have a three day weekend next weekend. So, if I feel okay, I might do something other than nap it away.

Onto this week's photos ... clicking on an image will open it in a larger format. 

I said DON'T ruffle my feathers!

See! See! This is what happens! A starling at the Plainfield Train Station.

The prettiest time of the year

Okay ... autumn is very pretty with its brilliant foliage. Winter is pretty when the world is white and quiet. Summer, not so much as things around here tend to dry out and lawns turn brown, especially in the late summer. But spring is a renewal -- flowers are blossoming and the array of greens is amazing to behold. Yes, it wreaks havoc with my sinuses, but I still love the spring sneezes aside.

Uniquely marked pigeon in Plainfield

All pigeons do not look alike! This pigeon hangs out on North Avenue in the vicinity of the Plainfield Train Station.

Coral-colored azaleas

As seen on Berckman Street in Plainfield

Here I am, but the action is behind me!

As I waited for my train home in Bridgewater last night, a baseball game was in full swing at the adjacent TD Bank Ball Park (home of the Somerset Patriots minor league baseball). Although sunset hadn't hit yet, all of the stadium lights were lit and ready for the dark. I saw a big hawk fly over me and didn't get my camera out in time to catch him in flight. But I saw where he landed -- right on one of the stadium lights stanchions! You'd think he'd be looking for prey and would shun the cheers, music and other noise at the ball park. Nope. He eventually went to the top of the lights and appeared to be watching the game in progress. Now, the crowds there for games usually measure in the thousands and, unless he plans to grab the ball, I can't see why a Red Tailed Hawk would watch the game. He is probably trying to figure out humans, I guess. (More on the hawk after the jump!)

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 30, 2017

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

Yup, yup ... it was certainly a week. 

The landlord/management company has indeed REALLY cracked down on the children running amok in the hallways. It's been so peaceful that I had forgotten what real peace outside my apartment door was like. Another long-term tenant shared that she was told that parents of one of the kids are being made to pay for the security glass in the broken door down on the first floor. Good!

But they're still not being good parents. (I should note that some parents here are good parents -- it wasn't their children creating the chaos.) Now the same bunch of kids who were unchaperoned in the hallways and staircases are now hanging out unchaperoned in the parking lot -- outside my windows for the most part. It turns out that my neighbor downstairs is one with one of the ringleaders of the Kid Crew. Last night they were out there past 10pm. That's dangerous! The oldest kids in the crew are about ten or eleven! It's a PARKING LOT. People drive fast through there sometimes! No parent is out there with them. The youngest kids are about four or five years old! Have these people no parenting skills? Do they not care about their kids as long as they're not bothering them in their apartments? Have they no common sense? I decided if they were still out in the lot at 11pm I'd call the police to have them round them up. It's dangerous for unsupervised children to be out there that late at night. It's child neglect if nothing else.

But it's not as loud when they're out there as when they're in the hallways.

I can sympathize that rents are high and many probably cannot afford larger apartments. I know that's why people are cramming kids into one-bedroom and studio units. I don't really have the answers other than, if they do that, they can't just let their kids run loose. They need to spend time with them, take them to parks, get them involved in some of the low-cost or free programs offered by the city of Plainfield. They need to be PARENTS. I never lived in apartments as a child. But my parents didn't let us go crazy in the house, had set bedtimes and taught us to be responsible in public.

Oh, well. Nothing much else going on this past week. I'm tired. But I'm always tired these days. I worked and then worked some more. I'm tired of working but don't see money falling from the skies.

In today's photos I'm posting, it's a lot of squirrel pictures. Y'see, once again this year, a squirrel family has a nest up under the eaves of the overpass at the Bridgewater Train Station. Kind of like the apartment kids, the young squirrels were left home alone and decided to have adventures. I took many shots as their antics were so entertaining. I hope the photos entertain you, too.

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

Starling with nest fodder

Bridgewater Train Station -- the birds and squirrels share nesting spaces under the eaves of the two overpasses.

THE SQUIRREL CHILDREN HOME ALONE

(continued after the jump, don't miss it!)

Yes, Sis ... there's a world out here!

Y'know, I want to explore!

What's up there?

I really want to go up there to see!

I know I can climb up there!

What Mom and Dad don't know won't hurt them! I'm BIG now!

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

Good morning! Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

Random stuff o' the past week:

• My health insurance company has approved the procedure to do the vein work on my right leg. The vascular surgeon will be inserting a foam to close off the saphenous vein in the lower part of my leg -- the source of the worst swelling and a bundle of veins that stick out like a bunch of snakes under my skin. This will take a few treatments to do the entire leg and the left leg will most likely be laser treatment. I go on May 12, a procedure done right in his office. He tells me I'll walk out feeling better.
• I got stuck in the elevator at the Plainfield Train Station late Monday night (about 10:15pm) -- the doors wouldn't open in the tunnel and it wouldn't return to any other floor (ground or platform). The smell was HORRENDOUS! I usually hold my breath to take the elevator down to the tunnel that late at night as I catch a taxi home. Thankfully, it's the Plainfield Police dispatcher answering the emergency phone from the elevator and the Plainfield Fire Department who rescued me. Had I had to wait for NJ Transit, I'd probably still be stuck in the elevator, probably deceased from the odor. As of last night, the elevator still hasn't been fixed. Get on the ball, NJT! 
• On the home front, I complained to the landlord's office about the kids running amok in the hallways for hours daily into the night, littering, breaking things, scuffing up the walls, staining the hallway carpet, etc. -- and all the people (kids and adults) crammed into one one-bedroom apartment which doesn't even have the child window guards. Those kids are the ringleaders of the Hallway Hellions. Within a few days after my phoned/then written complaint, the kids haven't been hanging out in the hallways. Instead, they're hanging out in the parking lot, mostly under my windows. My complaint or nicer weather? They're not supposed to be in the parking lot either -- it's dangerous. But their parents obviously don't care. At least it's not as loud as them right outside my door in the building. If I had a car out there, I'd be yelling at them, though.
• Also on the home front, my upstairs neighbor has sporadically been booming his stereo once again. You'd think if the cops come to his door twice withing 12 hours, he wouldn't do it again. How many times have the police been at my door in my 40+ years of apartment living due to complaints from neighbors? NONE. NADA. NEVER. Maybe if I make it that bad for him to play his music so loud, he'll move on his own. Since I just complained about the kids, I don't want to file another complaint about him right now. I don't want the landlord to think I'm some sort of chronic complainer. But, sheesh. Have people no consideration for others these days? Right now as I write this up, his stereo is vibrating my ceiling with its bass. Every Sunday morning. I only get one day off at a time and Sunday is one of them. I'm tired of this idiot. No one else in my wing of the building does it and no other tenant up there has made the kind of noise he makes. And he's the first one with carpet instead of hardwood up there! Grr.
• Rant over

 Onto this week's photos. Clicking on an image will open a larger version. 
 

Let there be spring pink!

Plainfield Train Station

Earth Day

Volunteers cleaned the grounds of the Plainfield Train Station. All of the bums went away as they cleaned. Of course, they'll return and litter all over again. Sigh. Something seriously needs to be done to keep unticketed passengers from loitering around the train station!

A patch of pretty

Bridgewater, NJ

Play ball!

It's baseball season once again at the home of the Somerset Patriots -- TD Bank Ball Park in Bridgewater. The game seemed to be in a rain delay as I headed to the train station after work. As I walked up the steps leading to my platform, they were playing the theme to 'Jaws.' NOT COOL! I expected to find a bear at the top of the stairs smiling at me or something!
 

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Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 16, 2017

Good evening! I hope everybody had an enjoyable Easter Sunday! My apologies for posting this so late in the day. But that's sometimes how things go! This is my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  You can find any posts I make about TAR at this link -- The Amazing Race.

Once again this week, I don't have a whole lot going on. We're finally having spring here ... that's news! Flowers are blooming, people are sneezing. I even saw a ladybug riding the train one day. Unfortunately, I didn't get a good photo of her/him. I also didn't find out if the proper fare was paid for the trip.

Yesterday I witnessed a woman arguing with a man about which corner would be "her corner." Gee, whatever could they be up to on the city streets?

I'm glad that most of the kids around here will be going back to school tomorrow. They've been on spring break. Now, it's is I who could use a spring break! I personally would have no issue with children going to school year-round. I didn't think that way as a child, of course. But these many weeks off and long summer vacations certainly don't prepare kids to adult in the real world.

Onto this week's photos ... clicking on an image will bring up a larger version in a gallery format. 

No, it doesn't

This sign is posted on the lawn of the Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse on Watchung Avenue.

Fullish Pink Moon

I took this shot Monday night, but the moon wasn't actually full until Tuesday. There was a bit of haze around it, but I was able to get detail. It isn't called the Pink Full Moon because it's supposed to be pink -- it's called that because it's time for flowers to bloom. (And they're starting!)

Everybody loves a pansy

Queen City Pride billboard

This billboard is at the Watchung Avenue underpass adjacent to the Plainfield Train Station. I don't work in town, but I certainly do live here. I enjoy seeing all of the revitalization going on. 

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

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - April 2, 2017

Good morning! Since it's Sunday morning, this is my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photos I took along the way. If you're here for Survivor -- you can find any Survivor posts I make at this link right here.  The Amazing Race season premiere was this past Thursday. While it looks like it's going to be a good season with its strangers teaming up twist, I saw that the ratings are way down. I would blame that on the late night (10pm) time slot. You can find any posts I make about the show at this link -- The Amazing Race.

I'd also like to remind folks that the cut-off for joining the blog pool for The Amazing Race is TUESDAY. You would need to sign up on this linked post to get in on the fun! Please don't sign up on this post you're reading now -- your request might be missed.

Since I've been so far posting about television in my weekly off television topic photo post, I might as well continue. Tonight is the season finale, two hours worth I believe, of The Walking Dead. I'm looking forward to that one! And, the series finale of Bates Motel should be coming up soon. But, when that kicks in, Fargo returns for a new season! Unfathomable pinheadery!

Okay, to life stuff. Um, it was a week. It rained a very cold wind-driven rain with temperatures just above freezing for much of the week. I really didn't take many photos at all. The weather didn't cooperate with me much when I was out and about. And, I lucked out with getting rides to work quite a bit. 

I found out my across the hall neighbor Joe is not moving out. He's in the hospital. His niece is in the process of moving in to take care of him upon his return home. Her furniture is nicer than his, so they discarded a lot of his. I noticed they kept his favorite recliner! They've been scrubbing and cleaning over there. I hope Joe is okay with the changes they've made when he gets home.

Healthwise for myself, I don't have any new news. I'm still awaiting insurance approval and the set-up dates for the vascular surgery on both of my legs. I still have extreme swelling and pain when I stand for any period of time. Elevating them helps. But Vincent the Cat thinks the couch pillow on the chair near my computer is for HIM to rest upon! No, Vincent, it's so I can elevate my legs! Sheesh! What a spoiled cat!

Oh, well. Onto the few photos I took this week ...    

Gull Patrol

Gulls keep watch over a parking lot in Bridgewater, NJ.

Down, but not out

The snow tried to kill them. Heavy cold rains tried to keep them down. But the daffodils, although not really perky, continue to fight for survival. Berckman Street, Plainfield.

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