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**

The Amazing Race: Blog Party - May 25, 2017

I'll be live blogging the show's events as they air here on the East Coast. Refresh this page to get the latest news! The real party is in the comments area -- come join in on the fun!

Lifeguard Sharon C has made the random match-ups for the blog pool I might even have a chance at my first blog pool win this season!

London/Logan - Delee, Sharon N
Brooke/Scott - Chrob61, Becky
Tara/Joey - SueGee, Willie J, Monty924
Matt/Redmond - MerriLee, Jackie

PHILIMINATED:
Jessica/Francesca - Brenda, David, Sharon C
Seth/Olive - ML, Cheryl in NC
Shamir/Sara - Indiana Jane, Jenna's Mom
Vanck/Ashton - Nickelpeed, Donna in FL
Liz/Michael - Judi Sweeney, Dolores in Hollywood, Ed in Ohio
Becca/Floyd - Janice, Brian

Are we ready? Yes, we are! 

Teams are heading to Seoul, South Korea. All teams are on the same flight, so they'll all start out even. Matt/Redmond took the subway while all the other teams took taxis. They're heading to a disco place to get their next clue from Gangam (sp?) dancers.

Roadblock -- Who stacks up? Sports stacking of cups. The subway had the boys running in last. Uh-oh. Yikes! BROOKE finishes first and remained positive through it!

Teams next have to make kimchi, the national food of Korea. They have to make six batches, then bury them to start fermenting the dish. 

After all the other teams left the Roadblock, Matt/Redmond arrived -- subway and a bad cab ride. 

Joey and Tara finish the kimchi first and are in the lead.  Oh, geez, Scott and Brooke passed them in the cab.  

Another Roadblock - Who's going to take control? Win a round of a martial arts video game against pros. They are not having a good time with it.

Matt/Redmond are making the kimchi.

If I vanish, I'm hearing severe thunder out there. Just a warning!

They are handicapping the pro video players -- first down to one handed, then a blindfold. London's through, Scott's through. They're off to the Pit Stop. 

Pit Stop:
1. Brooke and Scott. Gah. 
2. London and Logan 

The last two teams are racing in cabs and then on foot ...
3. Tara and Joey

I'm keeping my streak of never winning a blog pool Matt and Redmond are Philiminated. 

Yipes! I thought tonight was the season finale! I guess it's not!

Survivor: Game Changers - Season Finale/Reunion Show Blog Party

Everybody ready? Got your snacks? Got your tasty adult beverages? As the show airs here on the east coast, I'll be live-blogging with all the major happenings. Refresh the page to see the latest news! But, as always, the real party is in the comments area. I hope to see you there!

We're in for the big two-hour season finale followed by the one hour long reunion show. I'll probably fade away a bit live blogging during the reunion show, yet the party will keep going in comments!

Who will be the sole Survivor? Who will win the blog pool?

Here's the updated pool from the Lovable Lifeguard Laurie:
 
Aubry Bracco - Ed in Ohio, meb
Brad Culpepper - Brian, Sharon N
Cirie Fields - Leonia Hart, Terry is a Texan
Sarah Lacina - Delee, Rbennie
Tai Trang - Cheryl in NC, Sharon C
Troyzan Robertson - Donna in Alabama, Lifeguard Laurie

JURY
Hali Ford
Ozzy Lusth 
Debbie Wanner
Zeke Smith 
Sierra Thomas
Andrea Boehlke
Michaela Bradshaw

Survivor fans ready?

The finale reunion is in Los Angeles once again. I'm biding time as Jeff goes through narrating what's gone on so far this season. 

Sarah tells us she targeted Michaela because she was Cirie's right hand man. Cirie wants to salvage her relationship with Sarah. She tells Sarah in front of Tai that Tai was the "rat" who wanted Sarah out. He admits it -- he wanted to vote out Sarah. Now he's known as Tai the Liar (in his words). But he does have two idols. He tells Brad about them. Brad doesn't quite trust him, but thinks he might be able to use him.

Immunity Challenge time -- Race through maze, collect three bags puzzle parts, rose dial puzzle. The winner also gets a feast reward. It's also not an easy puzzle -- 41 pieces!

Brad wins! He picks Troyzan to go with him to eat, then goes for Sarah, too. The three decide that Aubry should be a target. Brad wants to flush out one of Tai's idols. He tells Tai that Aubry is going home. He wants Tai to play one idol for himself and let him hold onto the other one as a show of trust.

Oh, my.

Tai goes to Aubry, tells her that Brad said she's going home. He shows her his idols. Cirie joins in and talks nicey-nice to Tai. She tells him they need to unite and vote out either Sarah or Troyzan. Tai goes off crying.

Why do fools tell people about their found idols!?!?! 

Tai cries some more.

Tribal Council time! They talk about Tai being the rat in camp. They're acting like all will be voting for Tai. He doesn't cry now ... not yet, anyway.

Jeff tallies the votes. Tai plays an idol.  Then he plays the second idol for Aubry! Sarah plays the Legacy Advantage to save herself. Troyzan gives up his idol to save himself, too!

The tally:
Cirie is the only one who can go. No one voted for her, though. She's voted out without a single vote. She's gracious and gets kudos all around. In LA, she gets a standing ovation from the crowd. 

It's right to the next Immunity Challenge. Use paddles to maneuver balls through a series of obstacles. First to get three balls through wins. Sheesh, Brad is blowing them all out of the water even though it's not a water challenge! He wins his fourth individual immunity challenge. I have to say he needs it, though. He cries.  

Aubry is worried. She needs numbers. She plans on making a pitch to Brad. My guess is that it will either be her or Tai out. Maybe I'm wrong. 

Troyzan, Sarah and Brad want Aubry out. Aubry and Tai talk to Sarah -- telling her Troyzan is too close to Brad and they need to target him. Sarah isn't sure she can trust Tai. She talks to Tai; he tells her Aubry should go tonight. Brad tries to bully him into voting whoever he (Brad) wants him to vote. 

Tai tells Sarah he won't be bullied. He will now vote for Troyzan to go even though he had already decided Aubry.

Tribal Council time. Whoa. Troyzan may have blown his game -- says no one could beat him in the final three.

The Tally --
Aubry, Troyzan, Aubry, Aubry 

What a shame. They should have gone for Troyzan! 

Final Immunity Challenge! Race through an obstacle, down a waterslide, collect bags of puzzle pieces, solve puzzle. Sarah is in the lead. But, of course, the puzzle solving can change that all around. Brad has taken over the lead.

Brad Culpepper wins Immunity for the fifth time. 

He's very smug. I hate to see that in a winner, no matter how good they do. He tells us no one can beat him and Tai will go home. 

Tai wants Sarah to consider a tie ... and the fire challenge.  

Tribal Council time. Lots of tie talk.

The Tally:
Tai, Troyzan, Tai, Tai

Bye-bye Tai. 

After their peaceful night and food, it's time for the jury questioning.

Jeff says they're changing things up -- center around Outwit, Outplay and Outlast.  

Outwit - Social Aspect
Zeke - Sarah, gave you my jacket. Bad-ass. Sierra gave you Legacy advantage. I'm your champion tonight.
Sarah tells them her personal relationships were 100* real. Ozzy accuses her of going low. He gives Brad props for his wins. He will be Brad's champion. Cirie said that Sierra was voted out because she was Brad's brains. Brad speaks of his tie with JT. Michaela asks Brad how much he knows about her seeing as it's a social game. Tai thought Sarah was real with him. She claims she did whatever she needed. Sarah brings up her undercover police work. Debbie doesn't respect her. Debbie is for Brad. Michaela asks Brad what he's done in the social aspect. Ozzy calls Troyzan a passenger rather than a driver.Brad is once again defending his social game. Tai brings up the bullying aspect. Heh. Hali says he used condescension as a tool. 

Outplay - Shelter, etc.
Ozzy says Brad leads in this aspect. He's really in Brad's camp. Debbie agrees with Ozzy. (Troyzan is really getting neglected in all of this despite the fact that he claimed he could beat them all.) Sarah says building the shelters, etc. weren't what it's all about. She claims that her own gameplay got her there. 

Outlast -
Brad tells them you don't have to deceive and lie, talks about relationships and relying on winning immunities. 
Sarah tells them you have to strike first. Sarah thinks the jury members could have beat her. She was in on every vote. Again talks about police work.
Troyzan tells them he wasn't the best, appreciates them all for the adventure. (He knows he's out of the running.) 

As we could guess, Michaela voted for Sarah as did Zeke. Ozzy voted Brad as did Debbie. 

It's off to the arena in Los Angeles. 

The final tally for the win:
Sarah, Brad, Sarah, Brad, Brad, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, SARAH!

SARAH wins! 

Congratulations Delee and RBennie, winners of the blog pool!

I'm glad Sarah won. Sure, she was sneaky and all. But one thing she never was ... was smug. Brad's cockiness made me want him to lose. And, Troyzan was never in the running, as it should be.

I want to thank everyone for taking part here on the blog this season. Y'all rock! 

Next season is in Fiji, separated by Heroes and Healers. Oh, and Hustlers.

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 21, 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. The season finales for both shows are coming up this week -- how time flies!

In regard to television watching -- I haven't been able to get into this season's Fargo like I have the previous two seasons. I fell asleep the week before last and I actually forgot it was on this past week. I'll catch up with it today. Maybe if I'm not watching it after live blogging a show and at such a late hour, I will be more into it.

So, how is my leg doing? Hmm. I went to the hospital this week for the scheduled follow-up Doppler ultrasound test to make sure no blood clots have formed and to track the progress of the injected vein-collapsing Varithena. The tech performing the ultrasound told me all looked good to him, but the doctor will read the report more thoroughly. My next doctor appointment isn't until June 2nd. I do see improvement. Where I had the bundle of veins like snakes under my skin in my calf, a marked improvement. There is a rather large painful swelling at one of the injection sites, but I'm thinking that should diminish in time. The blisters from the tape are gone, but my thigh still has a lot of discoloring and bruising from that big injection site and that foam roll thing that was so tightly strapped to it in the bandaging.  All in all, it feels better than it did pre-Varithena even at this early stage. But, then again, I have been taking it easy on it although I do my daily walks as recommended.

A shout out to blog reader/friend Leonia and her husband for their graciousness in offering me rides to medical dealings! I try to schedule things I can get to via train, bus and/or cab, but life is so much easier when someone goes that extra mile and offers a ride when you're not feeling well! 

We had our first heat wave of 2017 earlier this week ... in MAY. Grr. The criteria for a heat wave is three consecutive days of over 90 degrees.  One day we maxed out at 97. I don't like the heat. As I get older, I like it even less. I'd actually prefer the cold of winter (sans ice and snow) than hot humid weather. Of course, I'd prefer spring to be SPRING, not SUMMER! 

Onto this week's photos -- clicking on an image will bring up larger versions in a gallery setting ...

Is it a Potato Beetle? Or is that a falsehood?

This beetle showed up as I was shooting mites on concrete at the Bridgewater Train Station. I got a bunch of great photos of him/her. But, upon returning home, I wanted to make sure I knew what it was. I thought "Potato Beetle" but found out that this area also has False Potato Beetles! The way to tell the difference is something about white showing under its wings when it flies. I didn't see it flying, just checking out the concrete for mites or something. So, I don't really know. 

Posing for the camera

The A Team - Azaleas and Allium

It's a good thing I took this photo last Sunday when I went for my walk. Yesterday the azaleas were brown and the allium had passed and was drooping. Berckman Street, Plainfield.

Friends-ly flowers

A row of irises grow in front of the Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse on Watchung Avenue in Plainfield.

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

The Amazing Race: May 18, 2017 Episode(s) Blog Party

I'll be live bloggig the show's events as they air here on the East Coast. Refresh this page to get the latest news! The real party is in the comments area -- come join in on the fun!

Tonight is actually two episodes in a row. Fun, fun, fun. Keep in mind that I'm going into this tired. But I'll do my best to keep up with what's going on.

Lifeguard Sharon C has made the random match-ups for the blog pool:

London/Logan - Delee, Sharon N
Brooke/Scott - Chrob61, Becky
Tara/Joey - SueGee, Willie J, Monty924
Becca/Floyd - Janice, Brian
Matt/Redmond - MerriLee, Jackie

PHILIMINATED:
Jessica/Francesca - Brenda, David, Sharon C
Seth/Olive - ML, Cheryl in NC
Shamir/Sara - Indiana Jane, Jenna's Mom
Vanck/Ashton - Nickelpeed, Donna in FL
Liz/Michael - Judi Sweeney, Dolores in Hollywood, Ed in Ohio

Last week was a non-Philimination leg so Michael and Liz (last place) will encounter a Speed Bump tonight.

Are we ready? Yes, we are! 

Teams are heading for a canal. Joey and Tara have it out for Brooke and Scott due to the U-Turn of Michael and Liz.

Roadblock - Who's ready for the long stretch? It's bungee jumping.

From there, they're heading to Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Scott fusses and whines about doing the Roadblock. If I were there, since he's all strapped up and stuff, I think I'd push him just to make him stop whining! 

All five teams are on the same flight to Vietnam. After finding a clue among a gazillion women exercising with fans, teams head to a BuddhistTemple. Floyd and Becca are currently in the lead. 

Detour - Bamboo Climb or Window Design. Retrieve bird cage from a roof with a bamboo ladder or design a store window with three mannequins.

Scott and Brooke are having a meltdown because they can't get a ladder. Too bad, so sad. 

Floyd/Becca followed by Redmond/Matt finish the Detour and are headed to the Pit Stop. 

Pit Stop 
1. Floyd and Becca - won a trip to the Galapagos Islands
2. Matt and Redmond 

Ack! Joey and Tara misread the mannequin clue -- Tara takes the blame. They forgot the child mannequin. Hopefully Brooke and Scott won't get by them. GAH. They did. 

3. London and Logan 
4. Brooke and Scott
5. Joey and Tara - Non-Phimination leg! 

I figured it would be because they will go into the finale next week with a final four. I just would have preferred Brooke/Scott to be last. Even though the clue misread was all Tara, Joey didn't berate her. 

Teams are headed to another location within Vietnam.Ninn Binh (sp?)

Becca/Floyd and Matt/Redmond made the first bus. The other three teams are all on the next bus. 

Bicycle to a temple and pick up a Traveling Gnome.

Roadblock - Who's feeling trapped? Carrying shrimp traps to fishermen. Oh, my. Floyd isn't doing too well on this. He's dropping traps and he fell over just before the commercial. The boys will probably finish the Roadblock first. The other three teams aren't at the Roadblock yet.

Speed Bump has Tara/Joey collecting six dozen duck eggs before they can continue on. 

Meanwhile Matt finishes the Roadblock. Floyd is still struggling. Matt helps him. Floyd thought he could unload what he has and go back for the fallen. But he has to take the whole thing back to pick them up.

The next clue leads them to rowing a boat of supplies ... with their feet and gnome, too. 

Oh, geez. Scott beat out Floyd on the Roadblock. 

Matt and Redmond are heading to the Pit Stop. Gah! London is having trouble on the Roadblock and is calling for Floyd to help her. Don't do it, Floyd! You have to stay in this thing! He helps her, but doesn't realize he dropped a trap. He has to go back for it. Meanwhile, Joey is loaded up and going.

Joey beats London back. 

Pit Stop
1. Matt/Redmond - won a trip to Costa Rica 

Uh-oh. Floyd is in rough shape. He may have just passed out. I fear they won't be in the final four. Sigh. 

2. Brooke and Scott (Wah)

Floyd is getting medical care. It looks like heat exhaustion to me. 

3. Joey and Tara
4. London and Logan 

Phil comes to Floyd and Becca. Philiminated. Sigh. My favorite team out.