Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 9, 2013

Good Sunday morning to all y'all out there! Yes, I know I don't have the proper Southern accent for that. However, writing is cool. You can have any kind of accent you want when you write. Since it is indeed Sunday morning, that means it's time for my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken.

I posted a bit on Big Brother live feeds earlier this week. If you're a fan of the show, check it out! On a totally different television note, Falling Skies has its season premiere this evening. I've already seen (thanks, TNT) the two hour two episode premiere and plan to post on that. I don't think I'll be doing that throughout the series as it's on the same night as Big Brother and BB is why a lot of folks come by.

After a pleasant week's staycation, this past week started off very rough. As many of the folks reading this aren't on Facebook, here's a rather long FB post I made Monday evening:

Wah. After spending my entire staycation waking up early enough to go to work, I overslept today. Then it rained on me as I walked to the train station. Then my office was typical office upon return from vacation (stuff moved around, stuff not done, etc.) and I had a new person to train in there. Then I stayed late because I came late. Then I got rained on again heading to the train station. (Yes, I had my umbrella, but still ...!)

Then I got home, hit the elevator button because it's NEVER on the floor I want, got my mail out of the mailbox, made it back to the elevator in time for the door to open. As I stepped onto the elevator, I was fumbling with my keys to get my apartment door key ready. I accidentally dropped my keys ... DOWN THE CRACK FOR THE ELEVATOR SHAFT! Wah! Wah! Woe is me! I went down to the basement and tried putting my umbrella in the shaft. No go. It didn't even touch bottom. I almost lost my umbrella down the elevator shaft.

Where is my 24 hour number for the super? Is it in my cell phone? No, of course not. I have it on my refrigerator. Thankfully, there are some good neighbors I know well enough to ask for help. Cletus from the first floor called Mario, the super. He got me into my apartment with his copies. He's going to make copies and leave them for me tomorrow. And, he's going to have the landlord call the elevator people because they're the only ones who can get down in that below basement level elevator shaft. I told him any money they find down there is mine. Any small children or rodents they find are NOT mine.

It all ended nicely, though. The super fished out my keys himself using a string and hook with a flashlight to see them. I don't know how long it took him. But I bet it wasn't on the first try. I had planned to do the same once I got copies of the keys and could secure my apartment as I fished in the basement. I gave him a decent tip as he didn't have to do that for me.

Meanwhile, the old landlord for my apartment building was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his multimillion dollar Ponzi scheme. Karma, baby.  The new landlords have been making building improvements, keep the elevator running (although it steals keys!), have a super who is bilingual, intelligent, trustworthy and a nice guy, too. The supers under the ex-landlord usually didn't speak English, didn't know how to fix stuff, weren't anyone you'd trust alone in your apartment and two even got evicted!

The week did improve for me, but the weather did not. It rained for about two days straight with the remnants of Andrea. Had we had the rains from this "post tropical cyclone" mixed with the winds of the last one (Sandy), we'd be in dire straits right now. Right now the reservoirs are full and we've had more rainfall than average for the year. I'm sure by August we'll be crying drought.

Onto the photos I took this week ...   

My chauffeur arrives

Although it was cloudy when the train picked me up Saturday morning for work, Andrea's constant rain was gone.

Starling on a wire

Perhaps not the prettiest bird, but the array of songs, chirps and such are beyond cool.

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

Big Brother 15: Live Feeds Information and Stuff

They recently released the information regarding the new live feeds via CBS.com for this season. As I previously mentioned, Real Networks is no longer partnering on the live feeds.

I have signed up (of course) and suggest anyone here wanting the live feeds, do it before the early bird cut-off of June 25th. You can sign up directly at the CBS website or various websites dedicated to the show. Since I know Hamsterwatch is a one woman effort, if you check out her site and sign up via the link she has there, she earns money. Alas, I don't have such a set-up for this blog. (If I did, I'd be asking you to sign up here!)

As in previous seasons, once the live feeds start, I'll be posting condensed versions (or stuff I really found interesting) of the live feeds two to three times a day, screen caps, coverage of endurance comps, blog parties on show nights and such as I have in the past. Supposedly, some content -- although not the live feeds per se -- will start on the feeds on June 11th. That should probably be the media day coverage during which various web writers do a mock-up of an eviction in the actual new house.

The season premiere is June 26. The cast won't be announced for a while yet. They're usually in the house four or five days before the premiere to give the producers film fodder for said premiere. They're usually in sequester for about a week before they go into the house. So, I'm thinking cast reveals should be around the 15th, give or take a day or two.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - June 2, 2013

Good morning, afternoon, evening ... whatever it is whenever it is that you're reading this! Since, for ME, it's Sunday morning, that can only mean one thing. Yep! 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.

I was on a staycation this past week. I still am, for that matter. It's over when I go to work tomorrow morning. I really didn't do a heck of a lot of anything other than relax. In the beginning of my week, the weather kept me in. Then there was a nice day, then more rain. Then we went into a heat wave.

Now, if I were a "normal" New Jersey person, off for a week during a heat wave, I would have headed down the shore. But I'm far from normal. I do love beaches and the ocean. I really do. I just don't like them crowded with people when the water is still too cold to go in. I'm not a lay on the beach blanket all greased up to tan (burn) type of person. I'm pale. I prefer to stay pale. The only alternative to pale for me is red. Plus, I'm not good at getting up from the floor with the knee replacements. I can get up, but it's very awkward. I don't need strangers pointing and laughing at my exploits when I don't even have much clothing to hide me. "Hey! Look at the chunky old chick trying to get up!"

Nope, not for me, thankyouverymuch. My perfect beach day is anytime that it's not summer. Stormy winter weather on the beach? Gorgeous! Sunrise off season? I'm so there! But during heat waves, my best friends are my air conditioner and some good books. Oh. And a cat. Can't forget the cat.

Same random observations on the week (or on life, too):

• I didn't travel far during my week off. The farthest I went was to the farmers market in Scotch Plains, an adjacent town. I saw not a one cicada. So much for the 17-year invasion around here.
• My upstairs neighbor, still a stranger to me, seemed to have a child up there last weekend. Thankfully, it went away.
• The rowdy new people in the front of the building who arrived in March are already gone. 
• The elevator of my building smelled like Braunschweiger yesterday. That's not good. I prefer it smell like fresh laundry from the basement, please.
• I visited Park Liquors in Scotch Plains on my outing yesterday, buying some Brooklyn Lager and some Samuel Adams Summer Ale. The liquor stores around here in Plainfield tend to Budweiser and various Central/South American beers. I'm not a big beer drinker, but I do like to have one now and again on summer days. I like to experiment around trying different kinds. I can't recall the last time I had a Budweiser.
• Yes, yes, I can. It was in the 1980s. That was also the last time I had a kamikaze. Do you know they glow in black light?
• I don't like to sweat unless I'm doing something physical. Standing still in the shade is NOT physical. It's too early for heat waves.
• Vincent was supremely spoiled all week, more so than usual.
• I'm tired of television commercials for the Jersey Shore singing "we're stronger than the storm." Enough already.
• There was a shooting last night at Kennedy Fried Chicken on Park Avenue in Plainfield. I heard it on my scanner. The police were already dispatched to a fight when the Shot Spotter doohickey indicated shots fired. A man was shot in the shoulder. The police stopped a car driving away with no lights on. Voila! A gun. Good work, Plainfield PD!
• Of course, I wouldn't be there at 2 in the morning. 

Here in Plainfield, the primary is coming up this Tuesday. As it always seems to be, it's a heated Democratic brouhaha between the incumbent and others. Although it really doesn't mean much except to the local folks in town, I endorse (with this mighty blog) Adrian Mapp for mayor. We really need change. The current mayor isn't doing the job for me. How 'bout you?

Onto the photos I took this past week ...

Allium ball

I took this shot on Berckman Street in Plainfield. It's odd -- directly across the street, the allium flowers have passed. It's like they're in two different climate zones or something. Did you know that the generic "allium" is the Latin word for garlic?

She went and CLOSED the window!

Yes. In the second day of the heat wave (three days at 90 degrees or more), I closed the window and put on the air conditioning. Sorry, Vincent.

So pretty!

Typical me, I have no clue what this flower is. I can tell you it's growing on Berckman Street in Plainfield, though! I wouldn't know what allium is except for someone telling me. Maybe someone will tell me what this one is and I might even actually remember. Maybe.

Deadly nightshade

Ohhh! Ohhh! (Doing my best Horshack impression.) I do know this one! It's deadly, but very cool.

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

Talking Big Brother 15 ...

It's getting closer now! Big Brother 15 makes its debut a few weeks earlier than usual this season. Its premiere is set for Wednesday, June 26, instead of the after 4th of July premiere we've had for the last several seasons. Rumors have it that the number of house hamsters is the most ever, too.

There have been also some other changes, mainly with the live feeds themselves and the elimination of the Showtime Too Big Brother: After Dark nightly shows. Or, is that Showtime Two? I only have basic cable, so I never had that anyway. On the other hand, I do have TVGN (on two channels!), the new home of the After Dark show. Apparently the format for that nightly show has gone from three hours down to two hours along with the network change. A bit more information can be had at this TVGuide.com announcement.

While I know about that change, the one which really doesn't affect what I do all that much, I have no clue about the live feeds yet. This is the first season since the first season that Real Networks isn't our feedline. Supposedly, the CBS.com site itself will be, but there's been little official word about any details. It will surely cost money as did Real Networks. I still plan on buying them and need to cancel my real.com Superpass before the quarter is up. I need to download my June songs from Rhaspody before I do!

As soon as I have the skinny, I'll pass it on to you. Will you be watching?

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 26, 2013

Yo, good morning, peeps. Oh, did I say that? You'll have to forgive me. I just looked up who's doing the cover of "All Along the Watchtower" in the commercials for the new upcoming Stephen King TV series Under the Dome. It's a rap group called Devlin out of the UK. Very catchy although it's definitely not Dylan or Hendrix. A good song holds up no matter what. Leave it to King who owns (owned?) a classic rock radio station up in Maine to come up with this version for the promos.

Anyway ... it's Sunday morning. Welcome to my weekly off television topic reflection on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken along the way. Not to fear, TV fans, it won't be long until this television lull is in the past. I have a bunch of screeners from TNT to cover in the upcoming days. Big Brother is back in the last week of June. There's the series mentioned above which I find very intriguing because I'm a huge Stephen King buff. We will have our television fodder!

Last week's weather here in my corner of New Jersey ran the gambit from almost winter-like to summer heat and humidity with very little spring tossed in there. The wind howled a lot. Yesterday was cold and raw with high wind warnings -- not a good start to a three day holiday weekend to kick off the summer for many folks.

I actually was off yesterday on a Saturday. My original plans had been to visit the farmers market in nearby Westfield. I have never been to that one and thought it would be nice. Thankfully, I looked up online to see if they were started yet this year. What? They've canceled it for this season? They want to go another direction? Sheesh. So, I decided I'd hit up the even closer Scotch Plains one instead. The only farmers market that comes to Plainfield comes during my working hours on a weekday. I so rarely have Saturdays off that I thought it would be fun. Alas, due to the weather, I stayed inside all day yesterday. Since I'm on a staycation this week, I'll hit up the Scotch Plains one next Saturday and I'll also see if the Plainfield one is up for this Thursday.

Since I have a Peapod grocery delivery scheduled for today which includes a ton of fruit (five dollars off when ordering $20 worth), it's not that I need the farmers market anyway. So there, Westfield! I'm looking forward to making up a fantastic fruit salad to last a few days. Plus, I'm going to make me a blender-full of chocolate-banana shakes. Mmm.

This past week was one struggling through weather and trying to wrap up loose ends at work so I felt okay leaving it behind for a week. I do know I'll come back to a mess and I'll also have a new manager to train in my office. I surely will rest up this week! I don't have many plans at all other than spring cleaning and possibly checking out the Westfield Memorial Day Parade on Monday morning. Perhaps I'll go into Manhattan one day. Or, maybe I'll take the cameras to a strange town along the bus or train route just to explore. Gosh, I love staycations! My next one in July is a mix of staycation with a few days away for my 40th high school reunion in upstate New York.

Onto the photos I took this past week. Once again, the flower shots are heavy. If you don't see rain in the photos, that means it's hot and humid.
 

Into the iris

I'm in awe at Mother Nature when I look into an iris. What stunning beauty! Growing on Berckman Street in Plainfield.

Rhododendron beauty

Growing on Berckman Street in Plainfield.

Colorful on a dreary day

Growing in the yard at the corner of East Front and Richmond in Plainfield.

Plainfield Fire Rescue 1

I edited this one to leave only the firetruck in color. This was on Berckman Street responding to a fire around the corner on East Second Street. More in the next photo ...

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