Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Mindthinkr]

7 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

But it occurred to me to ask if anyone has thoughts or experiences about cats who can be trained/acclimated to get out and about for walks etc. 

On Twitter check out a cat named Viiru. He is leash trained (also uses a human toliet) and his owners post wonderful stuff about him. Probably one of the best trained adjusted kitties I have ever witnessed. Even loves car rides and has traveled all over Europe with them. 

[Absolom]

Here's a recent article about double masking. 

Remember an important part is get a mask that fits well so that you won't keep touching it or adjusting it.  Messing with the mask is a disease preventing failure from the get go.

Also the mask only protects other people has gone out the window now too with current research.  So keep that in mind when making a selection that you want it to keep virus particles out and away from you.  That will also mean other people are then protected from anything you breathe out.  

It can take time to adjust to wearing a mask.  It did for me.  But if this old asthmatic can adjust to a KN95 or an N95, then I trust most people can work it out.  I can't walk fast in one, but I can shop just fine in it.  I wear a tucked surgical mask for walking and I'm now just fine. 

[Oldernowiser]

33 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I trained six cats to leash walk.  I tried and failed with another one.  You're right to start early with kittens.  Remember though that no matter how early you start some cats are simply opposed.  For that one failure, I used a pet stroller.  So two cats on leashes and one in the stroller and off we'd go.  We were upstaged by the parrot who rode on the outside of his stroller.  

I’m going to need a photo. Please please please? 🙏🏼

[Absolom]

21 minutes ago, Oldernowiser said:

I’m going to need a photo. Please please please? 🙏🏼

I'm so sorry to disappoint, but the kitties and parrot are long gone and we never took photos of the kitties or the parrot while out walking.   We probably should have.  Meeting the parrot on the walk happened most days of the week so it wasn't such an oddity to us after the first time.  

[emma675]

3 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

North Carolina...where you see Jim Cantore reporting from when there is a hurricane. 

He's been down here in Texas for a few days. You can have him back now. 

[Oldernowiser]

25 minutes ago, Absolom said:

I'm so sorry to disappoint, but the kitties and parrot are long gone and we never took photos of the kitties or the parrot while out walking.   We probably should have.  Meeting the parrot on the walk happened most days of the week so it wasn't such an oddity to us after the first time.  

Oh, well. It’s fun to imagine...it sounds like a Disney cartoon world where all the animals get along!

[Scarlett45]

The ice melt of which I speak. 
 

yes there are two buckets. The below bucket is just filled with rock salt that came in bags, the buckets keep things neater and make dispersal easier. 

[jcbrown]

My favorite masks thus far are the shaped face masks from these guys: https://www.eshakti.com/Shop/Face-masks?source=TLN_sublink You can get them in all sorts of colors and fabics, they have a strap so you can leave them dangling around your neck in the car, say, the ear loops are adjustable, and they fit my giant noggin.

[zoomama]

we dont watch the news here anymore so i have a question. why is there talk of double masking? is that the new rule? if so, i will just say no. one mask is fine for me.  and absolam, i think it was you that mentioned you had asthma....same here plus copd. i can just barely keep a mask on to grocery shop. my o2 just tanks in a mask. 

[Absolom]

There is talk of double masking because at first it was a challenge to get a mask, any kind of mask, on some people.  Now there has been time to analyze the quality of masks and many people wanted to know which ones to buy or use and how to make them more effective.  Putting a cloth mask over a surgical mask can be more effective because it makes the surgical mask fit more closely.  Tying and tucking the surgical mask does the same thing.  Adding filter to a cloth mask is another avenue or using a higher grade mask such as a KN95 or KF94.   It's all about cutting down on potential virus exposure.

In similar news, my daughter heard this morning that her kids may be going back in-person in March.  She's both excited and nervous.  I recently bought the grandkids some fun child-size surgical masks so I my need to hunt down some more.

Edited February 16, 2021 by Absolom

[crazy8s]

11 minutes ago, Absolom said:

There is talk of double masking because at first it was a challenge to get a mask, any kind of mask, on some people.  Now there has been time to analyze the quality of masks and many people wanted to know how which ones to buy or use and how to make them more effective.  Putting a cloth mask over a surgical mask can be more effective because it makes the surgical mask fit more closely.  Tying and tucking the surgical mask does the same thing.  Adding filter to a cloth mask is another avenue or using a higher grade mask such as a KN95 or KF94.   It's all about cutting down on potential virus exposure.

In similar news, my daughter heard this morning that her kids may be going back in-person in March.  She's both excited and nervous.  I recently bought the grandkids some fun child-size surgical masks so I my need to hunt down some more.

if your mask has a pocket to insert another layer/filter that is also an option.

as far as the grandkids and masks, our grands have been back to school since Oct. - they have a drawer full of the Cat and Jack masks from Target. they seem to be ok with them as far as comfort and wearing for a full day. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I’ve been double masking a disposal one and a cloth one at once.  I see no difference. I can breath just as well as with one mask.  In fact, I’m calmer. For me, I feel safer, even if just a tad safer.  
 

My friend in Houston just got her power back on after 2 days, but still no water.  
 

 

[realityfan26]

My 3 year old granddaughter has been going to in school preschool (speech requirement) since October with few closures. She is better at wearing a mask than some adults. As a way to get kids used to wearing a mask, my DIL heard that parents allow their kids video game time as long as they wear a mask. Easy way to get them used to it. 

[Boston]

Ok, i don't know if this is the right place to put this.. (probably should have put it in the last 600 lb. thing last week.. which i didn't watch, but i read all about).  WOMEN.. (I have a stray hair that pops out on my chin (thanks grandma)  and another one near my mouth..Ok, you can all say GROSS at once.. but i bought FLAWLESS.. and it has been a lifesaver.  Try it and tell me it doesn't work.  I still get the sprouts, but this thing KILLS them immediately and I look great.

[Oldernowiser]

16 minutes ago, Boston said:

Ok, i don't know if this is the right place to put this.. (probably should have put it in the last 600 lb. thing last week.. which i didn't watch, but i read all about).  WOMEN.. (I have a stray hair that pops out on my chin (thanks grandma)  and another one near my mouth..Ok, you can all say GROSS at once.. but i bought FLAWLESS.. and it has been a lifesaver.  Try it and tell me it doesn't work.  I still get the sprouts, but this thing KILLS them immediately and I look great.

Interesting. However, I will confess that in the very, very small and pathetic thing that my life has now become there are days when the lone highlight is finally getting hold of that little chin hair stub with a pair of tweezers and yanking it out while muttering, “HA. TAKE THAT, MOFO.”

I know. There are no words.

[awaken]

10 hours ago, marypat57 said:

I spent a good deal of Sunday on various devices trying to get a vaccine appointment, to no avail.  I got through to the appointment site for NY state, clicked on the site closest to me that ‘supposedly’ had appointments available, entered my info, chose an appointment time, hit enter, corrected my mistakes, hit enter again, got an error response, and started again.

Then, I got the dreaded “No appointments available”.  I don’t know what else to do.  The only appointments available were at an airport that was 450 miles away or the state fairgrounds about 350 miles away.  
I live in a suburban town that has the second highest number of cases in the county.  I am over 65, and have several comorbidities.  I have tried all of the local pharmacy and urgent care chains.  I am a patient at two of the major health care  groups in the area.  One group has said they will let us know when they have vaccines and the other has said nothing.  One pharmacy chain said that they had vaccines available in CT, only 30 miles away!  However, they neglected to say that you would have to swim across Long Island Sound to get there, and once you got there, no vaccine because you were not a CT resident.

Now, back to our regular snarking...

 

 

Ugh, same exact experience here 😞 I heard of a new vaccination site today and my brother got an appointment after staying on hold for SIX hours. Who has that kind of time?!  Insane. 

56 minutes ago, Boston said:

Ok, i don't know if this is the right place to put this.. (probably should have put it in the last 600 lb. thing last week.. which i didn't watch, but i read all about).  WOMEN.. (I have a stray hair that pops out on my chin (thanks grandma)  and another one near my mouth..Ok, you can all say GROSS at once.. but i bought FLAWLESS.. and it has been a lifesaver.  Try it and tell me it doesn't work.  I still get the sprouts, but this thing KILLS them immediately and I look great.

Haha. I have a couple like this I call “my special hairs”. 

[rue721]

I like fish tanks as a hobby, and follow some subreddits and things like that for fish keeping/planted tanks/etc.

Because of the blackouts, a lot of people are losing all their pets and aquatic plants when their fish tanks are freezing (literally freezing into ice!). Some people are putting their fish into smaller travel tanks and sitting out in their car with them, so they can turn the car heater on and try to keep the fish warm, but of course that’s not working either. So for the most part, people are just sitting there helplessly, watching their pets and plants die. It’s heartbreaking. Many people have been keeping these tanks for a decade or more.

It’s something I really hadn’t thought about until I saw people posting about it, but 💔😖

This is ridiculous, people need heat in this weather!

[SunnyBeBe]

Be careful of getting in your car for heat. I saw a sad story tonight of a mother and daughter who died in their garage from carbon monoxide poisoning.....trying to get warmth from their car:(

[Mindthinkr]

FYI: I’m extremely petite (4’9” and maybe 95 lbs on a fat day). I got masks for children. They are what fits my face the best. Yes, they have Mickey Mouse on them and I get comments at my senior age, but I’d rather be protected than not. 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Be careful of getting in your car for heat. I saw a sad story tonight of a mother and daughter who died in their garage from carbon monoxide poisoning.....trying to get warmth from their car:(

That’s awful. Did they have dementia? Or just so traumatized they didn’t think? That’s so tragic!!

You have to have the garage door open when the car is running!!!!!!!! Also you have to make sure you shovel around the back of the car so the exhaust can escape. 
 

(I realized if you didn’t grow up in a cold climate you might not know this from childhood as you’d have no reason to sit in a running car). 

[SunnyBeBe]

11 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

That’s awful. Did they have dementia? Or just so traumatized they didn’t think? That’s so tragic!!

You have to have the garage door open when the car is running!!!!!!!! Also you have to make sure you shovel around the back of the car so the exhaust can escape. 
 

(I realized if you didn’t grow up in a cold climate you might not know this from childhood as you’d have no reason to sit in a running car). 

I think it was in TX and I think they said the daughter was only 8 yrs old....just heartbreaking. 

(Deleted portion meant for another thread.)

Edited February 17, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Scarlett45]

5 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think it was in TX and I think they said the daughter was only 8 yrs old....just heartbreaking. 

(Deleted portion meant for another thread.)

That’s awful😞. 
 

Stay warm and safe everyone. I admit I’m super emotional today. Probably cause I’m tired. 
 

In pet care news- Blake & Cosmo had an incident today, it’s fine no one was hurt nor do I think that was going to happen, but Blake tried to get on Cosmo’s bed and that did NOT fly. Just hid under my bed and I kicked him out of the room to have free run of the house. 

[Jeanne222]

31 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

That’s awful. Did they have dementia? Or just so traumatized they didn’t think? That’s so tragic!!

You have to have the garage door open when the car is running!!!!!!!! Also you have to make sure you shovel around the back of the car so the exhaust can escape. 
 

(I realized if you didn’t grow up in a cold climate you might not know this from childhood as you’d have no reason to sit in a running car). 

You're going to enjoy this story.  We have a new duplex home with an attached garage.

Hubby had to go out to the drug store but returned home at 3:00 pm. 

About 10 that evening I was ready for bed but something told me to check the garage!  I do that sometimes because he tends to leave the light on.

Lo and behold when I opened the door the car was running!!!!!  It was hotter than hell in there.  I pushed the button and opened the big garage door!  I was afraid to run out there with the garage full of carbon monoxide!

Waited a couple of minutes with my door closed then ran out there and turned off the car.  The key was hotter than HELL!

I'm shocked we are alive!!!  That car was running in the garage from 3-10!!!!  I can't imagine carbon monoxide didn't creep into the house and kill us all.

I'm also surprised when I write this that the gasoline tank didn't catch on fire as hot as it was!

God just wasn't ready for us.  I'm certain somebody or something whispered in my brain "check the garage"!!!

[Oldernowiser]

Sorry, @Scarlett45. As long as nobody got hurt, it’s pretty common to have some inter-species miscommunications. Heck, Nervous Dog bit Griffey hard in the face after too many weeks of New Puppy Griffey acting like he owned the place. As in, trip to the vet bite. It’s my belief the other three dogs and the cat we had at the time had a meeting and drew straws as to which of them won the opportunity to nail the cocky little shit.

Today they’re best friends. 

They’ll work it out, especially since Blake clearly understood the message. But it’s scary to see.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

FYI: I’m extremely petite (4’9” and maybe 95 lbs on a fat day). I got masks for children. They are what fits my face the best. Yes, they have Mickey Mouse on them and I get comments at my senior age, but I’d rather be protected than not. 

I am 5'4", weighed 95 lbs when I was 10 years old and a whole lot more than that now and I have several masks with Mickey Mouse on them.  Made for grownups.  And I wear them all the time.  They go with the Mickey Mouse watch I wear daily.

[Mindthinkr]

9 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

I am 5'4", weighed 95 lbs when I was 10 years old and a whole lot more than that now and I have several masks with Mickey Mouse on them.  Made for grownups.  And I wear them all the time.  They go with the Mickey Mouse watch I wear daily.

Well TBH I now wear the Mickey Mouse under the K95 which is much too large for me. 
Real question..would I be better off wearing a fabric covering vs the option I am using? 

[Oldernowiser]

16 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I'm shocked we are alive!!!  That car was running in the garage from 3-10!!!!  I can't imagine carbon monoxide didn't creep into the house and kill us all.

Holy shit, J222. What was he thinking? If your place doesn’t have a carbon monoxide detectors (and with new construction it certainly should) please get a couple ASAP! That’s really, really scary. So glad you’re okay!

[QuinnInND]

You're lucky to be alive, @Jeanne222!!! Holy crap!!!

How awful about the mom and daughter dying of carbon monoxide poisoning. I guess people really don't know that running the car in a closed garage is so dangerous.  When we moved to North Dakota, that's one of the things they told us during our orientation. Don't run the car in the garage without the door open. Even if it's 40 below. Of course we had block heaters too, and kept them plugged in even in the garage, so the it didn't take long to warm them up. And this message was reiterated all winter. 

[CalicoKitty]

Has anyone heard from @Jynnan tonnix lately?

[Zella]

43 minutes ago, CalicoKitty said:

Has anyone heard from @Jynnan tonnix lately?

She's been quiet for a while. I hope she's okay.

[SunnyBeBe]

Jeanne222, that was a close call. Man, so glad you checked the garage.  I agree about getting carbon monoxide detectors for the home if you have any gas appliances or an attached garage.  
I found that story I mentioned upthread.

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article249278475.html

Edited February 17, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Jeanne222]

2 hours ago, Oldernowiser said:

Holy shit, J222. What was he thinking? If your place doesn’t have a carbon monoxide detectors (and with new construction it certainly should) please get a couple ASAP! That’s really, really scary. So glad you’re okay!

We do have carbon monoxide detectors and they showed nothing!  I'm still in shock and it's been two weeks.  Thank you.  

[QuinnInND]

First covid shot done! 

[Jeeves]

5 minutes ago, QuinnInND said:

First covid shot done! 

I just got my second. Sitting here for the 15 minute observation time. 🙂

[Mindthinkr]

It’s so wonderful to see more and more of us posting that we are getting the vaccine. 

[emma675]

We got 3 more inches of snow overnight, ugh. That doesn't sound like a lot but it's on top of a layer of ice and another layer of snow. I'm officially done with winter, lol. 

Zella, did y'all get the ice and snow, too? I think it was moving out of here in your direction. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by emma675d

[Zella]

1 minute ago, emma675 said:

We got 3 more inches of snow overnight, ugh. That doesn't sound like a lot but it's on top of a layer of ice and another layer of snow. I'm officially done with winter, lol. 

I was just coming on here to check on you and our other Texans. We got another few inches too. How's your power situation?

[Zella]

I took some snow pictures but the site is saying they're too big. Grr. Snow up to the bumper of vehicles. 

 

[Zella]

1 minute ago, emma675 said:

I've had power the whole time, thankfully, but my brother down in Austin is on day 3 of no power. My parents are filling their tubs with snow in order to flush toilets because their city's water treatment plant is running on generators. It's ridiculous. Our governor is calling for investigations into why everything failed so badly but we all know the answer--money lining the pockets of people who are too greedy to care about others. We're supposed to get above freezing here on Friday and into the 60s next week, so hopefully people can dig out and get power back soon. 

Hope y'all can thaw out soon! We're on the same time track of getting above freezing. I am a little concerned about my dirt road when we start thawing. The snow has packed on it, so it's probably more traversable than the state highways right now, but I'm already envisioning the mud that will ensue. 

[QuinnInND]

We're supposed to be getting that storm form Texas here tomorrow and Friday. Snow and ice. Ice is the worst. Snow I can deal with. 3-6 inches of snow is easy. But that half inch of ice under is a killer. 

[Jeanne222]

Feeling really sad for my Texas and Oklahoma friends.  Up North we are prepared for these snow storms.  Texas and Oklahoma not so much.  I'm sure other states just as bad off but those are the two states I have friends in and talk to them about conditions.

Houston was lit up like a Christmas tree while families all around no power..

My Oklahoma friend and her family are fighting hard to keep her animals fed, watered and alive.  She said the wind was bitter.

In Indiana we have snow piled six feet high on either side of our driveway.  Another Winter storm coming but I think it will be South of us.  Supposed to get a warm up this next week so maybe this thing growning from my roof to the ground called and icicle will melt and fall off and not take the gutter with it.

Rough times my friends.  Rough times.

[BetyBee]

17 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

You're going to enjoy this story.  We have a new duplex home with an attached garage.

Hubby had to go out to the drug store but returned home at 3:00 pm. 

About 10 that evening I was ready for bed but something told me to check the garage!  I do that sometimes because he tends to leave the light on.

Lo and behold when I opened the door the car was running!!!!!  It was hotter than hell in there.  I pushed the button and opened the big garage door!  I was afraid to run out there with the garage full of carbon monoxide!

Waited a couple of minutes with my door closed then ran out there and turned off the car.  The key was hotter than HELL!

I'm shocked we are alive!!!  That car was running in the garage from 3-10!!!!  I can't imagine carbon monoxide didn't creep into the house and kill us all.

I'm also surprised when I write this that the gasoline tank didn't catch on fire as hot as it was!

God just wasn't ready for us.  I'm certain somebody or something whispered in my brain "check the garage"!!!

I'm so glad that little voice made you check the garage, @Jeanne222! That must have been very scary. I think about that happening in our condo. We have an attached garage next to the neighbor's attached garage. We wouldn't hear if they left their car running in their garage. It could take out 2 families! My bil has a cousin whose young husband died working on their car in the garage. This was many years ago. He had the door open, but the wind kept the fumes building up in the garage. His poor wife went to tell him lunch was ready, but he had passed away.

[GeeGolly]

My goodness, I hope this at least serves as a wake-up call so these states that are struggling with power issues fix it to handle extreme weather in the future. 

It seems all these systems/infrastructure that we depend on, appear to be geared toward the 'good days' and not the bad. Well the bad days are close to becoming the norm now. We saw it first in the medical community and now with power grids.

On the other hand, it gives us an opportunity to appreciate things we take for granted.

[madpsych78]

North Texas here. We have had "rolling" blackouts since Monday. They were rolling more in the true sense of the word on Monday, but then we had a continuous blackout for about 19 hours on Tuesday. So far, we had power for about a hour and a half early Wednesday morning, and again for just over two hours now. Not sure how long the power will last.

We have been letting all of our faucets drip continuously since Sunday evening. Fortunately, we haven't had any water issues so far. 

To be sure, Texas is not prepared for this type of weather (I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, so am used to snow and cold weather, but never had to worry about freezing pipes or blackouts). However, Texas has its own system, ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) apart from the other lower 48 states, for managing electric power.

 

[QuinnInND]

31 minutes ago, madpsych78 said:

Texas has its own system, ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) apart from the other lower 48 states, for managing electric power.

 

Except for El Paso, who is on the Western grid.  And Texas is set up for hot weather. Not for prolonged sub freezing temps. And people cranking the heat to 80 in the house and using space heaters, which use a ton of power.  Not that that's any comfort for those who are freezing. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by QuinnInND

[Oldernowiser]

27 minutes ago, madpsych78 said:

ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas)

Well, that’s a singularly unfortunate name right now...

 

[GeeGolly]

Google says there's thousands of power companies with about 200 providing the majority of power.

I'm curious if there's a trend of who does better. Small verses big and/or certain companies do better over all, and some companies continually fail.

[Zella]

Just for me here in Arkansas, I am really glad I have a small power company. There are 3 power companies in my county. 2 provide service to the towns and are not locally headquartered. Mine is for rural residents and is headquartered here. Even when SPP was telling them to do rolling blackouts, they refused. The other 2 did them when told to do so. I think a big part of it is my power company was being asked to turn off heat and lights on their family and friends, not nameless strangers to them. The fact we're a small service area may have also worked in our favor--fewer people taxing the system, even if we were really taxing it with the heat cranked up. Entergy was shutting off power on people last night in Little Rock, apparently. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by Zella

[doodlebug]

26 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Google says there's thousands of power companies with about 200 providing the majority of power.

I'm curious if there's a trend of who does better. Small verses big and/or certain companies do better over all, and some companies continually fail.

From what I've read, it seems that the big issue is that much of the mechanics and equipment used to provide power in Texas was not meant to be exposed to the kinds of temperatures they've been seeing in the past few days and that is the reason it is failing.  The power companies built their plants to withstand Texas heat, but not subzero cold and it is not so much the amount of power being used but that the cold is causing equipment failures. 

A TV pundit claimed that this was due to the windmills that provide electricity freezing and was just one more sign that we need to stop trying to produce 'clean' energy and just go back to fossil fuels but he was apparently wrong about that,  Proportionately, about 25% of Texas' power is from wind, but only 18% of the system failures are in windmills.  It is the traditional power sources that are being brought down by the cold temperatures as their equipment doesn't have the insulation and other protection from the cold that we take for granted up north, causing it to freeze and otherwise fail.

Edited February 17, 2021 by doodlebug

[SunnyBeBe]

Is it just me or why is it that the people who’s job is to think of worst case scenario haven’t thought or planned for worse case scenario? Aren’t there teams of people who are in charge? Nobody thought what would happen to the state of Texas if temperatures drop?  I don’t understand.