Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - June 10, 2012

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. As I write this, it's a bit humid here with the threat of rain. I'm glad I'm not planning on going to the Puerto Rican Day Parade in the city!

I went back to work this week after my very relaxing staycation the previous week. Sigh. Sometimes I think I should never take time off. I'm not keen on drama in my life as I get older. Sure, I like challenges. But ... sheesh ... why do I always seem to come in to major technical glitches, systems down and dealing with the company's Helpless Desk? Both Monday and Tuesday had their share of technical woes. Woe is me.

On the home front, the new landlord is still gung-ho on the place. Tree trimming, replacing boards in the stockade fencing on one side of the property, installing a fortified locked door with a mail slot for us to leave service requests and rent checks and even vacuuming daily (not just when it looks bad). While talking to the office, I found out they're planning on putting in security cameras in various places as well as changing trash removal companies. No more PMUA for here.

Maybe they can catch whomever stole the front page and second section of my newspaper last Sunday -- the first time ever delivered -- if they do it again. Grr. I never had delivery because I figured it would be stolen. And, sure enough ... my paper last week started with the real estate section.

I'm only getting the Sunday paper due to the paywall now in effect for the Courier News. I used to buy it daily and read online. Then, as the price of the paper went up and the paper got so flimsy, I just read online. Now, you can only read ten articles in 30 days without being shut down and asked to subscribe.

As I really like and want to support the reporter (Mark Spivey) who covers this area, I decided I'd go for the subscription. It's $12 for total online access including a mock-up of the physical paper which I couldn't access before. However, it's only $8 a month for all online and Sunday actual paper delivery. Hmm ... four dollars less and you get an actual Sunday paper. Well, duh. Even if it does get stolen (or parts thereof), it makes more sense.

Yeah, I'm cheap.

This week I made sure to get dressed and go down to get the paper by 6:10am. While I'm usually up at that hour, if I'm not going to work, I'm not ready to face the world. Yep, the paper was intact and there. What's weird was that I heard a TV across the hall at Crazy Joe's (and he's retired, not necessarily a morning person) and, upon returning to my apartment with the paper, both neighbors on either side of me were coming out of their apartments. Wow, It must be early bird day!

On another building note, I noticed a package sitting atop the mailboxes the other day. I usually check them out just in case someone is sending me something. If it's a package for someone I know, I'll snag it and deliver it to their apartment. Others do the same for me. Oh my. This one was addressed to Carlos Santana. I didn't know he lived here!

;-)

Onto the photos for this week. Clicking on an image will open it in a new window, another click will make it larger and closing that window will land you right back here on the blog.  

 

Colorful weed

These blossoms are quite small and seem very short-lived. But, aren't they cool?

Um. It's New Jersey, what can I say?

Okay ... this trio got off the NJ Transit train in Bound Brook yesterday. I just don't know. It's not Halloween and it's not time for an evening costume party. So I can only assume it's something in the water here.

Bee staredown

The bees here are still very small and tend not to sit still for long. But I got this one close up and personal!

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Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - June 3, 2012

Well, it's Sunday once again -- time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. I've been off this past week on a staycation. I had a few things I wanted to do and few of them got accomplished. Oops. However, I once again feel relaxed. That was the main thing I wanted to accomplish anyway!

The weather was either muggy and hot or had a chance of rain most of my days off. Thus, I didn't make any trips into the city (NYC). Nothing is worse than a sweaty Manhattan or getting drenched when my intent was to take photos.

So I puttered around home for the most part. I pampered myself with bubble baths, scented salt baths and good food while reading, listening to music, and catching up on some video watching. 

Once again, on Memorial Day, my bathroom ceiling leaked ... ruining the newest ceiling tiles installed. Well, not ruining them per se, but definitely staining them. Grr. On Tuesday afternoon I called the new landlord's maintenance number. Wednesday morning, they showed up. Judging from the amount of time spent up there and the noise they made, it SHOULD be fixed. It hasn't leaked since. However, I often went three months in between leaks although it's been chronic for years.

Here are this week's photos ... clicking on an image will open it in a new window, clicking again will make it larger. Closing that new window will plop you right back here on the blog.

Day Lily in the sun

I took this on Friday just off Richmond Street near the railroad tracks in Plainfield.

Somerville Train Station

After a rather ill-fated outing with a friend, I ended up driving her home in her car and catching a train out of the new Somerville Train Station to get home. Very nice although I didn't plan to see it this way!

Pretty in purple

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Falling Skies: Mechs, Skitters and Overlords, oh my!

Yes, the second season of Falling Skies is almost here! The new season kicks off with two hours of action on Sunday, June 17 starting at 9pm ET/PT. Thanks to the good folks at TNT, I received not just the first two episodes that will air for the season premiere, but the first four episodes. Now, I don't have to say anything good about the show just because they sent me the eps. I'm under no obligation to TNT at all.

That said, thank you TNT! 

My one real obligation with the screeners is that I don't divulge spoilers. So, instead of giving you any kind of play-by-play, I'm just going to throw out lots of random thoughts on the show and this upcoming season. Make of it what you will, but I'd like you to join the Resistance with me.

While the premise of the series is certainly nothing that we haven't seen before -- the world as we know it is destroyed, mass lives are lost, small groups of folks try to survive -- it's a fairly tried and true kind of storyline. My favorite Stephen King novel is The Stand. Albeit by different means, society as we know it is tossed to the gutter.

A few of the aspects which truly make this show a fantastic TV series are the involvement of Steven Spielberg (executive producer) and the incredibly fine effects. I'm a person who grew up in the days of Star Trek: The Original Series and Lost in Space. Now 40-something years later, their special effects are laughable. Perhaps they were a bit laughable at the time, but I didn't care.

Well, I care these days. Between actual costumed skitters (the bug-like aliens) and CG skitters, it all comes across as so realistic that it's definitely movie quality action we're seeing. The stomping of the mechs echo in my mind long after they leave the area.

With Spielberg's work we've always had great characterization. He continues the trend here. When Noah Wyle's character Tom Mason stepped into that spaceship during last season's finale, my heart skipped a beat. Dang it, I've gone and gotten attached to the dude! (No, not like a harness attached to my spine ...!) All of the main characters in the show are fleshing out ... and I think we see a bit of them in folks we know. 

So, onto the action. I thought the first hour started a bit slow, but as I continued watching the action picked up. By the time I finished the fourth episode I was wanting more. The only real shame of getting a sneak peek at the first four episodes is that now I've watched a good chunk of the season ahead. Drat it all!

 

If you haven't been watching this series and you like science fiction type of action, definitely check it out. It's not a show for the squeamish, for sure. And, I don't recommend it for the hobbits and wizards crowds, per se. But if you want to watch a well-done series which will keep you on the edge of your seat and perhaps dip into your nightmares, here ya go.

You can find out more about the upcoming season and the show itself at the official TNT Falling Skies website.

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - May 27, 2012

Happy Sunday morning, all! I realize, though I dub this post "off topic," I haven't posted anything ON television topic this week! Oops. 

I really haven't been watching too many shows as the May Sweeps period fades away. I've been watching America's Got Talent (and still hoping for tickets to see one of the live shows this summer in Newark) and So You Think You Can Dance started this week. Both shows are still in their audition phases. Letterman went into repeats by Thursday evening with no Jack Hanna appearance during sweeps. I would think that's odd, but I know from Facebook that Jack Hanna had a knee replacement a few weeks ago.

My first day of another staycation started yesterday. Hopefully I'll finish watching some screeners sent to me by TNT and post on them for the lack of any other TV posts. Dependent on the weather, I might run into the city one day. It's Fleet Week there. Maybe I could get some sailor shots! I also have a few places in town I want to shoot (as in take photos of, not as in gunfire). Vincent will also have to go for his check-up and shots this week and i have a few other errands to run as well.

This past week was yet another fairly hectic one for me. I had notice that there would be a "new landlord inspection" Tuesday afternoon. Um. Okay. The state has been in. The city has been in. What could this one be? Cue panic mode. I dusted. I mopped. I waxed. I polished. I cleaned my oven!

All pretty much for naught. It was just a huge Orthodox Jewish man with a meter to check for lead paint. Stepping in the door, he saw Vincent sitting on a chair. "You don't have a dog, do you? I'm scared of dogs. Oh my. That's one big cat!" He then asked me if I heard him screaming this past Thursday. Er, no. He said a dog in the building attacked him. Oh my!

I automatically figured out what dog. "Pit bull with a man in a wheelchair?" "Yes!" Now, I know this dog. Technically, it bit me once. And, yes, someday the dog will be trouble as the man isn't training the dog right. But right now it's a puppy. It gets all happy around people and wants to play. That's how I got bit. The bite didn't break my skin, nor was it any sort of attack. It was playing.

Meanwhile, this lead meter guy jumps every time Vincent makes a sudden move. I'm standing there watching Vincent following him and occasionally carrying Vincent on my shoulder when I see the man tense up. My biggest fear is that Vincent would go for the zizit around the man's waist. After all, you have dangling strings near a playful cat and the cat might just jump up your leg!

The inspection ended with no lead paint found. The meter goes through all the layers of paint slapped on since the building was built in 1960. He told me that he only had about 8 apartments left to do, no lead paint found anywhere so far. Too bad. I was in the mood for fish and CHIPS! (My apologies to those who read my similar joke on Facebook. I felt it too good not to share here, too.)

As a result of my even cleaning the oven in preparation for some unknown aspect inspection, my place is all spic and span as I head into my staycation. Cool. A few Swiffers and keeping up with dirty dishes is all the housework I'll be doing on the staycation! Yesterday was hot and muggy here. I pampered myself taking a long soaking bath with Bomb Cosmetics bath rocks -- a scented fizzly bit of heaven while drinking a cold glass of Schmirnoff Ice bought specially for the occasion and listening to smooth jazz. I had steak, mashed potatoes and asparagus followed by Trader Joe's Ultra Chocolate (used to be Chocolate Blast) ice cream. I lounged about. I read. I listened to music. I napped.

Today, my plans aren't all that much either. Sometime between 7:30 and 9:30 AM, my latest Peapod order will arrive. My big chore of the day will be putting groceries away. By Monday, I should be relaxed enough to walk downtown and watch the Memorial Day tribute to those who have served the country. 

Onto the photos -- clicking on an image will open it in a new page, clicking again will give you a larger image. Closing that new window will bring you back here.  

Squirrel photo shoot

It was raining, so his fur and tail are a bit frazzled. Plainfield Train Station.

Lush from the rains

Although they say we're still short for the year, the abundant rains of the past few weeks have turned everything lush and green. East Front Street, Plainfield.

Small bee on the weed

I don't know what kind of small bee this is, nor the weed. It's a pseudo-dandelion ... way too tall and different leaf structure than a dandelion. Bridgewater Train Station.

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

Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - May 20, 2012

It's Sunday morning, time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. Well, man ... this has been one busy and rather sucky week for me. Yeah, you heard me. Sucky.

Work has been busy with unexpected auditors popping in. Not through my doing at all, we didn't do all that well. It's one of those "I told you" so kind of scenarios, but of course it's not really politically acceptable to say that. (But I told them so before this went down. I did.) The sad part with some of the latest auditors is that I actually know more than they do about company practices.  That's what happens when you spend half your life in one workplace.

The home front has been a bit hectic, too. First, on Wednesday I received a notice under my door that I have a new landlord. Okay. That wasn't unexpected. The last real landlord went bankrupt (and more, as you'll see) a few years back and the building has been being run by a receivership appointed by the bank. I read last summer that there was a winning bid of 9 million on the building at auction.

No, I didn't buy it.

We recently had our five year state inspection. Then there was another inspection by the city (for the sale?). On Thursday, which was my day off this week due to a switch, there was a knock on my door while I was still in my pajamas. HEY! Day OFF! It was a new superintendent of another building owned by my new landlord. He had a list of repairs including removing the old caulking around my tub and replacing it with new, new bathroom ceiling tiles, fix the low cold water pressure in the kitchen and a few other things. Um. Okay. I told him, as I've told others, that they need to fix whatever is leaking upstairs in regard to the bathroom ceiling.

When will these repairs be done? Today.

Ack.

I made him give me ten minutes to put real clothes on. Then I let unexpected repairmen in to my apartment which had some housecleaning chores scheduled for my day off. Remember, it's my DAY OFF.

I watched a few episodes of the Falling Skies screener TNT sent me while a huge man was closed in my tiny bathroom choking on caulking fumes. Vincent peeked under the door at him either worried for his welfare or concerned that the man would use his litterbox.

That DAY OFF ordeal ended, fast forward to Friday after work. A notice under the door that the new landlord will be doing inspections on Tuesday between 4pm and 6:30pm. Argh! How many inspections can one tenant go through? I feel like Arlo Guthrie at Whitehall Street -- inspected, neglected, dejected, rejected!

Along with that notice, there was a questionnaire to send back to the new landlord. It asked the basics -- name, contact numbers, car info for the parking lot, who else lives there, etc. Along with the questions, it asked how much rent is being paid. Huh? I'm sure the receivership gave them that info. Heck, if David Connolly gave the info to the bank when he went bankrupt, you know the bank's appointed folks told the new landlord. As tempting as it was to try to lower my own rent, I told the truth. Maybe it's a test of my integrity.

But the story doesn't stop there. Saturday in the mail I received what looked like trouble -- a letter from a lawyer's office and a notice of certified mail being held at the post office. Huh? Is someone suing me? Nope. A neighbor in the elevator told me everyone got the same thing. Of course, he was telling me in Spanish, so I wasn't sure if I was understanding him right. I was. It was from the bank saying that the receivership was released of its duties, my security deposit transferred to the new landlord, and much legalese. Um. Okay. Apparently the certified letter is another copy of the same thing. If I get there while the post office is open, fine. If not, fine. The notice from the new landlord on the first day told me that they had my security deposit, what bank it's in and the account number.

Then there's my original landlord (not the original original one, but the last one). What comes around, goes around. He's facing two counts that could each net him twenty years in prison and five million dollars plus in fines. His real estate Ponzi scheme caught up with him. The FBI and Securities Commission went after him for wire fraud, laundering money and a host of other charges. That's what he gets for jacking up my rent each year he had the building and letting the elevator remain broken for months when my knees were bad!

Now that I've bored everyone to death, onto this week's photos. Clicking on an image will open it in a new window, clicking again will make it larger and closing that window will lead you right back here.  

Monarch Building reflected

A testament to all the rain we had (again) this week. The Monarch Building (condos) on East Front Street is reflected in puddles in their neighbor's driveway.

Plainfield Train Station irises

If I'm not mistaken, I think local blogger Bernice had a hand in planting these. East Fourth Street, Plainfield.

Westfield planter flowers

I don't know what they are, but they're big and pretty. Elm Street, Westfield. (I had to make a Trader Joe's foray on Friday due to stress!)

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