Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 26, 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.  Remember-- The Amazing Race season premiere will be THIS Thursday, March 30th! I will be live-blogging the show and there will be blog parties!

Let's see ... what's new this week?

Well, the weather still isn't new -- we're still having winter temperatures for the most part although (thankfully) we've had no more snow. Yesterday was the first day with temperatures above the 40s. Today we're back to high in the 40s. March is often like this. But that doesn't mean I have to like it!

On the apartment front: I think Joe, my neighbor across the hall for fifteen years or so, is moving out. I stopped some kids I saw lugging things out during the week. I've never seen kids visiting him. Joe is one who will come out and yell at kids playing in the corridors! Since these were very young black kids I didn't know and they were taking stuff to the dumpsters, I just asked them if Joe was okay. He's in ill health and I thought he may have passed and relatives were clearing out his place. The oldest boy, about 12 years-old, told me Joe was fine, they're his great-nephews and they were just helping him by bringing stuff to the dumpster. Okay, sounds good. Until today ... when I took a bag of trash to the dumpsters. Uh-oh. I recognize furniture out there and the dumpsters (with the exception of one with closed lids and the recycle one) were over-fllled. That's JOE'S furniture! Yeah, he's alive, I guess. But he's moving, perhaps to an assisted living place, I would think. I wonder what the new neighbor will be like. Sigh. Joe and I always got along well. He has even offered to loan me his car if I ever needed it for something.

In other apartment news, the idiot ... um, guy with the loud thumping stereo upstairs has been quiet all week. Good.

In workplace news, a two-year nightmare has ended. It's like a weight off my shoulders, fresh air ... but I still want to retire as soon as I can. In health news, I really have no new news. I haven't been on my feet as much during the workdays and my leg issues feel a lot better. But I still have to have that vascular surgery done.

Onto the photos from the week. It's a bit gull heavy. We've had bitter cold temperatures and strong winds most of the week. So, I only took photos at certain times and some days I didn't want to kill off the camera's batteries with the cold. Clicking on an image will open it in a larger gallery window.

NJ Transit Plainfield Train Station

The main building off of East 4th Street is (of course) on the Newark/NYC bound Track Two side of the station. With NJ Transit, anything train or bus has better shelter on the side that heads in that direction. They're under the false assumption that people wait only on that side and just head home without having to wait on the other side.

Things are looking up?

Well, at least this ring-billed gull is looking up! Corner of Gavett Place and North Avenue.

Hmm ... another one

Perhaps they're waiting for the Rapture? I don't know.

Oh noes!

Snowstorm white and yellow daffodil victims in Plainfield. How sad is this?!?!

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Survivor: Game Changers - March 22 Episode 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!

Last week's episode started out by buff dropping and the creation of a third tribe. This week we've been warned that only the one winning tribe will be safe from Tribal Council. Second place only counts in horseshoes, I guess!

Here's the updated pool from the best pool lifeguard ever, Lifeguard Laurie:

NUKU
Aubry Bracco - Ed in Ohio, meb
Jeff Varner - Donna in FL, Rochelle, DonnaNY
JT Thomas - Carol C, Petals
Malcolm Freberg - Judi Sweeney, Merrilee
Michaela Bradshaw - David, Jackie
Sandra Diaz-Twine - Jennasmom, SueGee

MANA
Brad Culpepper - Brian, Sharon N
Debbie Wanner - Glenn, tbc
Hali Ford - Buzzmaam, Nana in the NW
Sierra Thomas - Becky, monty924
Tai Trang - Cheryl in NC, Sharon C

TAHUA
Andrea Boehlke - Indiana Jane, ML
Cirie Fields - Leonia Hart, Terry is a Texan
Ozzy Lusth - KelseyNY, Margo, PDX Granny
Sarah Lacina - Delee, Rbennie
Troyzan Robertson - Donna in Alabama, Lifeguard Laurie
Zeke Smith - Janice from GA, Paula Bell

No more fire!
Ciera Eastin
Tony Vlachos
Caleb Reynolds
 
Survivor fans ready?

Hmm. Tai shows he's trustworthy to the others by talking about voting out his buddy Caleb? Hali could definitely use that against him in a court of law! Meanwhile, Debbie wants to target Hali as she thinks it's too soon to make Tai a target. Or, would that be a Taiget?

We're starting out with a Reward Challenge. Only two members of each tribe will complete. First two tribes to finish win reward. First, coffee makings and chocolate chip cookies. Second, thermos of coffee. First person has to carry a ball on a stick over obstacles, second throws sandbags. 

Tai is doing a horrible job in the first part of the challenge. 

Nuku wins first place! Brad Culpepper won second place for Mana after Tai's disappointing showing. It was Troyzan who lost it for Tahua.

Uh-oh. Ozzy seems to be getting a bit too confident. He thinks his providing the others make him invaluable. Then he catches a sting ray and makes them even happier with him.

Over on Nuku, Sandra is way over-confident. JT wants her out SO bad! Malcolm is willing to work with him toward that goal. But, will Sandra do that voodoo thing she seems to do and eork her mojo on them all? It wouldn't surprise me. However, any smart player should be targeting her. 

Immunity Challenge time! Blindfolded, tethered in pairs, caller, collect bags, table maze. Sandra and Troyzan sit out. Jeff tells them that both losing tribes go to Tribal Council. 

TAHUA wins Immunity!    

Ohhh! Only ONE person will go out tonight between the two tribes at Triabal. That changes the stakes a bit!   

Nuku is six versus the five on Mana. Most seem to think they need to stick together. JT wants to target Tai if that's the case. Sandra wants to take out Sierra. JT would still love to see Sandra go tonight. He trusts Brad. Over on Mana, they really want to target Sandra. Brad thinks if they go Sandra, JT will be voting her.  

Tai thinks he better go looking for an idol. He finds a clue and runs off looking for the idol. He's got it! (So, for the record, both Tai and Troyzan have idols.) Oh, geez. He runs and tells Brad, Debbie and Sierra! 

Time for Tribal Council. This should be interesting. 

Debbie mentions that JT used to be close to then and now he's in the spotlight. Jeff points out the other threats. Sandra says she knows she's not going home tonight. Hmm. Oh my. Hali hints Culpepper should be targeted.  They're all whispering. Sheesh.Whoa! JT tells Culpepper they're voting him out! Hali is reluctant to be the first vote. They're all still whispering.  

Tai gives his idol to Sierra.

The tally --
Sierra, Sierra, Sierra, Sierra, Sierra, Sierra, Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm.

ARGH! Malcolm is sent packing!  

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 19, 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. A word of warning -- The Amazing Race season premiere will be Thursday, March 30th!

Around here the biggest news of the past week is the snowstorm (or blizzard) that hit us Monday night through into late Tuesday afternoon. Because Plainfield had a couple of inches of sleet in the middle of the storm, our snow totals were only about a foot. Many areas along the shore had rain and ended up with very little, if any, snow. Further north, it remained all snow and some totals were more than twenty inches.

Unfortunately, unlike many storms this late in the season, the temperatures didn't warm up and help rid us of the snow. Instead, we had days hovering right around the freezing point and bitterly cold nights. Looking at the forecast, we're going to be stuck with this for a while. Meanwhile, the warm temperatures last month brought out buds on trees, daffodils and some tulip activity. Not anymore! 

I went for the follow-up on my tests on my legs this week. The surgeon wants to do both about two weeks apart. The worst one, he wants to treat with injecting a foam which will close down the great saphenous vein and its affected branches. The other leg, he wants to do with more traditional laser treatment. He claims that other veins in the leg will take over for circulation. In researching about it, I found that the great saphenous vein is the one used when someone has a heart bypass. I better not ever need one of those down the line! Now it's just a waiting game for insurance approval and scheduling. It probably won't be happening until May.

In apartment living news, I ended up calling the police on my upstairs neighbor's blasting music late last night. I thought those days were over when he moved his speakers up off the floor. But, then came last night. He turned on his stereo at about 9pm, extremely loud and thumping. At 11pm, I went upstairs in the elevator just to see how loud it was from there. Sure enough, it was blasting through the whole hallway and was very loud from the elevator door. I don't want to confront him. I went back downstairs and, at nearly midnight, I called the police. Since the Plainfield Police changed over to an encrypted radio system, I can't hear them on the scanner anymore. But I did hear them pounding on his door about 15 minutes after I called. The stereo went right down. He continued to play the lowered stereo for about two hours more. I could hear it, but it wasn't all that loud. The damage was done, though. I ended up not sleeping most of the night.

As I'm typing this now, he has turned it on loud again. I'll give him a half-hour until I call the police again. Obviously he has no consideration for others.

Onto the photos -- clicking on an image will open it in a larger gallery version.   

Tomorrow is SPRING!

So this can all go away. Now. Tonight, overnight. Vamoose! Be gone, damn snow! Corner of Watchung and North in Plainfield.

Me and my shadow

It's not me, though. He and his shadow? The low angle of the winter morning sun caught this just right and I had to shoot the guy. (With my camera.) East Front Street, Plainfield.

Have a seat!

Most of the city street benches are buried in (now very dirty) snow. You need to take a bus? Chances are you'll have to stand in the street or take the risk of climbing over a huge snowbank. Back in the day, the climb wouldn't be an issue. Nowadays, I'm fearful I'll fall under the bus! Looking towards the Park Madison building from East Front Street in Plainfield.

Monday tree buds

Despite a few days of bitter cold arctic temperatures, I saw these buds growing on a tree at the Bridgewater Train Station on Monday before the storm hit. 

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Survivor: Game Changers - March 15 Episode 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!


Due to the two-hour season premiere last week, we lost two castaways, not just one. But, as Lifeguard Laurie promised ... the first week was free and those who had either Tony or Ciera have been reassigned a new castaway!

Here's the updated pool:

NUKU
Andrea Boehlke - Indiana Jane, ML
Brad Culpepper - Brian, Sharon N
Cirie Fields - Leonia Hart, Terry is a Texan
Debbie Wanner - Glenn, tbc
JT Thomas - Carol C, Petals
Ozzy Lusth - KelseyNY, Margo, PDX Granny
Sarah Lacina - Delee, Rbennie
Sierra Thomas - Becky, monty924
Tai Trang - Cheryl in NC, Sharon C
Zeke Smith - Janice from GA,Paula Bell

MANA
Aubry Bracco - Ed in Ohio, meb
Caleb Reynolds - Cheryl, MikesGirl
Ciera Eastin - DonnaNY, PDX Granny
Hali Ford - Buzzmaam, Nana in the NW
Jeff Varner - Donna in FL, Rochelle, DonnaNY
Malcolm Freberg - Judi Sweeney, Merrilee
Michaela Bradshaw - David, Jackie
Sandra Diaz-Twine - Jennasmom, SueGee
Troyzan Robertson - Donna in Alabama, Lifeguard Laurie

No more fire!
 Ciera Eastin 
Tony Vlachos

Survivor fans ready? 

Oh my. We're starting out with the "drop your buffs." It's a random pick from a plate. It's three tribes instead of two. Anyone choosing a green buff is on the new tribe.

I'm probably not going to get the tribe division down right now. Caleb and Tai are reunited. Malcolm is in heaven now that he's ended up in Nuku. JT is worried because he's not only a previous winner, but he's the only member of his previous tribe in his new one. He's looking for an idol and Varner is already scheming against him. 

On his new tribe, Brad thinks that either Hali or Caleb should go. Brad thinks Debbie is more loyal. Hmm. Tai wants Caleb to stay and told him that they're talking either him or Hali. 

Cirie and Ozzy think they should work together. It sounds like Troyzan will be the biggest target on that tribe. Meanwhile, Troyzan is suspicious of them and looks for an idol. He finds a clue which tells him the idol can be retrieved at the next immunity challenge. (Wouldn't it be cool if someone else found it and snagged it without a clue?)

Sandra wants to eat one of the goats wandering nearby the camp. JT is willing to catch one to gain her favor. Oh, gee. They catch one -- a baby. But the guys realize it's a mama goat and baby, the only reason they caught it was because it wouldn't leave the babies. Sandra is deadset on killing one. None of the guys want to kill a goat. They decide on eating the chickens.

Time for the Immunity Challenge! The "hidden in plain sight" idol is taped right in plain sight to a table. Three tied together, obstacle course, bucket of water, gate, puzzle. Reward is tarp, first tribe gets choice of comfort for body or taste buds. Second tribe to finish gets the leftover choice. Troyzan has to wait until after it's over because he's assigned to the untying of knots. 

NUKU wins first place! Sandra, Malcolm and JT are on that one. The new tribe, Tahua (sp?) got second. Troyzan retrieved his idol.  They ended up with the spices.

Debbie, Caleb, Hali, Tai, Brad and ??? are on the new losing tribe. I believe that's Sierra on there. Debbie and Tai are talking about Hali going. Yes, it is Sierra. Brad thinks, to stay in good graces, Tai needs to make the decision to take out Caleb and tries to work him. 

Tribal Council time! Jeff asks his Probsting questions and it still seems between Caleb and Hali.She seems to plead her case to stay better.

The tally:
Caleb, Hali, Caleb, Caleb, Caleb ... he's OUT! 

Brad was able to convince Tai. It looks like the only one who voted for Hali was Caleb. 

Next week both losing tribes at Immunity will go to Tribal. 

Caleb still loves Tai. Ain't that sweet? 

Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - March 12, 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. 

Here near the NYC area we continue to have wacky weather patterns. We have had so many days through February and the beginning of March with outright spring temperatures that flowers are blooming and some of the trees have buds. But Mother Nature isn't letting us off that easy as we were fooled into thinking that this past winter wasn't bad at all. We started off the week with 60-plus degree temperatures and then we got some snow on Friday along with horribly cold temperatures and high winds. Now they're talking a major nor'easter Monday night through Tuesday with blizzard warnings around here and snow totals of more than a foot. It's just a waiting game to see if this storm will come to fruition or not. 

On the Living In My Apartment Building Front:

• I did my good deed for the day today. As I went to go downstairs for my Sunday morning newspaper, my neighbor on the one side (the one with the knee issues) was also leaving. I found out his name is Andy. He was struggling with his fancy seat walker and asked if I could get the door for him on the first floor. He's on oxygen and had left it in his car, so he was having trouble breathing. I not only walked him to his car, but I loaded his walker in the back seat for him and made sure he was all hooked up to his oxygen before I headed to the front for my paper. I'm glad I had my coat on (mainly so I didn't have to change out of my pajama top) -- it's SO COLD out. That's how neighbors should be -- he knocked on my door once to ask where I got my grocery deliveries from and I've knocked on his door once bringing up a package for him that the mailman just left sitting by the front door. He's not inconsiderate with his noise and told me he rarely hears any of my noise. Good neighbors rule. 
• Then there's the hallway playing kids. Sigh. I came home one evening from work and there were about eight of them running around, playing and making a mess on the first floor, front wing of the building. (I live in the rear wing.) The oldest boy, perhaps nine years old -- they ranged from him down to about four years old -- saw me coming and ran to open the front door for me. He then yelled at his underlings to get the first floor security door for me as well as call the elevator. Now, he KNOWS I've yelled at him before not to play in the building corridors! I guess I'm just not mean enough, huh? What a little Eddie Haskell albeit Hispanic in the making! No, I couldn't yell at them after he made such an ordeal about my arrival. Let them rip apart the first floor front wing of the building. Just don't be outside my door making that racket and mess!    

That's about it for now. I plan on staying out of the frigid temperatures today -- perhaps a nice hot bath, catch up on television shows I missed, etc. My shows are slowly returning. Of course, there was the season premiere of Survivor this week. But I've also been watching Bates Motel, The Walking Dead and some other shows. I've missed the newest episodes of Blue Bloods and Elementary this past week, so I'll watch them today. I also have to catch up on Superior Donuts -- I'm enjoying that one. If I'm not mistaken, tonight is the return of ABC's American Crime. If it conflicts with TWD, I'll have to put it on my watch later list.

Onto the photos -- if you click on an image, a larger gallery version will open. 

Tuesday early evening

This was before the arctic temperatures took hold this past week. Plainfield Train Station as I arrived home from work.

Early week daffodils

Although not as perky as they should be had they waited until actual spring, the warmer temperatures we had last week and into the beginning of this week brought about the daffodils. The tulips want to come up, too. They will regret the decision to bloom. Wah. Berckman Street.

The Full Worm Moon

The March full moon is called a "Worm" Moon because this is the time of year when the ground warms up enough to generate earthworm activity. Um, well. Perhaps not this year since we seem to be observing February in March! I took this shot last night at the Bridgewater Train Station waiting for my train home from work. The wind chill was in the single digits.

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