Question

The 169.254.78.9 ip address is an example of what type of ip address

Answer 1

As specified in RFC5735, this is an address from the "link local" block. It is assigned to a network interface as a temporary address, for instance if no static address is configured and the DHCP server is not found.

If you boot your PC without a network cable, you'll probably end up with a 169.254.*.* address.