Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[SunnyBeBe]

She says they were emphatic they didn’t notice.....it does sound incredible.  A plain white blouse you might not notice, but a floral with fruit?  

[rue721]

I'm sorry for your loss, @jcbrown

Thinking of you and your dad. If you are up for telling us anything about him, I'm all ears

[Mindthinkr]

Popping by to say hi. All is happy in my world. 
(you know this means all hell is going to break loose later or tomorrow) 😂

[SunnyBeBe]

21 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Popping by to say hi. All is happy in my world. 
(you know this means all hell is going to break loose later or tomorrow) 😂

Well, I haven’t received notice by email that I won a million dollars in the NC covid vaccine cash drawing, so, unless they are enroute to notify me in person, I’m not the lucky winner.  😂 But, I won’t give up.  More drawings are to come over the next couple of months.  

[Cinnabon]

1 minute ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Well, I haven’t received notice by email that I won a million dollars in the NC covid vaccine cash drawing, so, unless they are enroute to notify me in person, I’m not the lucky winner.  😂 But, I won’t give up.  More drawings are to come over the next couple of months.  

We have those here in Ohio, too. You ever know!

[SunnyBeBe]

I had convinced myself that I was going to win 🤑because the odds are much better than the lotteries you might normally enter.  Last night I planned out my weekend....splurging on a beach trip with the million in mind. 🤫😆. Oh well.....maybe next time.  

[BetyBee]

Hello Small Talkers! Tomorrow we will officially accept that we are most definitely retired persons...we're having matching recliners delivered! We've been waiting months for them. Everything seems to take longer since the pandemic. Anyway, we are disposing of our sectional and will have fewer seats in our living room for guests. It's going to be just right for 90% of the time and we can always put out more chairs when we have company. 

Also, for any podcast listeners, I just starting binge-ing "Do You Know Mordechai" which I'm really enjoying. That's about all that's going on here!

[SunnyBeBe]

Congratulations BetyBee.  Those chairs sound tempting.  My dad has been in the market for a new recliner, but so many are out of stock.  You’re lucky to get yours. 

[Ohiopirate02]

16 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Well, I haven’t received notice by email that I won a million dollars in the NC covid vaccine cash drawing, so, unless they are enroute to notify me in person, I’m not the lucky winner.  😂 But, I won’t give up.  More drawings are to come over the next couple of months.  

My birthday falls on one of the lottery days.  I fully expect my name to be called on that day.  If one of my loved ones wins on that day, I expect a present.  

[iwantcookies]

17 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

Reminds me of this story:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tv-anchor-same-suit-sexism_n_6170900#:~:text=Australian newscaster Karl Stefanovic wore the same suit,viewers regularly offered his female co-presenter%2C Lisa Wilkinson.

This male newscaster wore the same suit on the air every day for a year mainly because he felt it was unfair that his female colleagues got so many viewer comments and criticisms on their on-air clothing while no one ever complained about what the men wore.  As predicted, not a single viewer contacted the station to comment on the fact that he wore the same outfit every day.

I kinda wonder if the woman in the above post just had really polite coworkers?  Or, maybe like the rest of us, they didn't pay attention to what anyone else is doing onscreen because they were too busy checking their phones and playing with the dog.

I’m pretty sure most of the male anchors own 2-3 suits if that. Female ones own a ton of clothes. 

[iwantcookies]

18 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

This is the craziest story.  Woman wears same shirt to meeting and no one notices!  I’m pretty sure that I would.  At least I hope that I would.  
 

 

Unless she was naked I wouldn’t notice. I notice pets and boogers lol 

 

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

I faithfully subscribe to this weekly county paper solely for the joy of Nancy Drewing things like announcements since most actual newsworthy events are not covered quickly due to their printing schedule. The annual tax delinquency listings and the weekly arrest report are also a rich source for amusement/information. 😂

We, um, actually check the arrest report regularly at the library because it sometimes explains why someone hasn't returned something. . . . 

At my library, we use the Jailbird page as a reference resource when someone misbehaves.   Almost all of our problem patrons have been arrested for something.  

[Scarlett45]

So I did a thing- I booked a trip for Morocco Spring 2022.

[CouchTater]

2 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

So I did a thing- I booked a trip for Morocco Spring 2022.

That's awesome!  How exciting!!! You might inspire me to go big on a trip.

Scarlet, are you travelling solo?  I've only done 1 solo vacation and it was domestic.  I've been debating going abroad somewhere, but it would be solo.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

[iwantcookies]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

My birthday falls on one of the lottery days.  I fully expect my name to be called on that day.  If one of my loved ones wins on that day, I expect a present.  

What kind of a present would you expect?

[Scarlett45]

13 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

That's awesome!  How exciting!!! You might inspire me to go big on a trip.

Scarlet, are you travelling solo?  I've only done 1 solo vacation and it was domestic.  I've been debating going abroad somewhere, but it would be solo.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Yup -Me, myself, and I!

I am very excited. I am doing a tour with Globus, because I do like tours and I love to run my mouth so they give you built in company if you want that. My last solo trip was to London/Scotland in 2019, and I have been to NYC, Boston, and San Diego (for Comic Con International) alone plenty of times.

[BetyBee]

1 minute ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yup -Me, myself, and I!

I am very excited. I am doing a tour with Globus, because I do like tours and I love to run my mouth so they give you built in company if you want that. My last solo trip was to London/Scotland in 2019, and I have been to NYC, Boston, and San Diego (for Comic Con International) alone plenty of times.

That's so great! I just know you're going to have a fabulous trip!

[ozziemom]

Nice @Scarlett45! We will travel vicariously through you. My daughter lives in London and I had planned a fabulous 65th birthday trip there, including Wimbledon tennis tournament, but then COVID-19 canceled it. 66th birthday is in a couple weeks but no traveling this year either. Maybe 2022. 

[Scarlett45]

Just now, ozziemom said:

Nice @Scarlett45! We will travel vicariously through you. My daughter lives in London and I had planned a fabulous 65th birthday trip there, including Wimbledon tennis tournament, but then COVID-19 canceled it. 66th birthday is in a couple weeks but no traveling this year either. Maybe 2022. 

AWWW. 2022 will be here soon. I am sure you miss your daughter. I love London, but I wanted to go somewhere new.

[iwantcookies]

Libraries are still closed for the most part. Some are open to grab the holds/returns and a few open to browsing. But no chairs and no sitting inside. Seriously it’s time to open up to some capacity. At this rate it might be Xmas!

[CouchTater]

44 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Yup -Me, myself, and I!

I am very excited. I am doing a tour with Globus, because I do like tours and I love to run my mouth so they give you built in company if you want that. My last solo trip was to London/Scotland in 2019, and I have been to NYC, Boston, and San Diego (for Comic Con International) alone plenty of times.

Thanks!  I will check in with Globus if I decide to hit the road.  

[Absolom]

38 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

Libraries are still closed for the most part. Some are open to grab the holds/returns and a few open to browsing. But no chairs and no sitting inside. Seriously it’s time to open up to some capacity. At this rate it might be Xmas!

Ours have been open limited numbers and limited hours on three days a week for months.  Two days were for curbside pickup only.  From June 15 they've been open six hours a day five days a week without capacity limits.  

[tarheel220]

3 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I had convinced myself that I was going to win 🤑because the odds are much better than the lotteries you might normally enter.  Last night I planned out my weekend....splurging on a beach trip with the million in mind. 🤫😆. Oh well.....maybe next time.  

Don't give up!  I'm in NC and I read that it may take several days before they say who won.  Apparently there's a long process for this.

https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/first-1m-vaccination-winner-selected-what-we-do-and-don-t-know-about-the-winner/19737089/

Edited June 23, 2021 by tarheel220

[SunnyBeBe]

3 minutes ago, tarheel220 said:

Don't give up!  I'm in NC and I read that it may take several days before they say who won.  Apparently there's a long process for this.

https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/first-1m-vaccination-winner-selected-what-we-do-and-don-t-know-about-the-winner/19737089/

Yeah, but I also read that they reach out to the winner to process things by phone or email......and no one from the state has called or emailed me today.  I’ll keep checking though.  I suppose if they can’t reach you that way, they’ll go to your home.  

[tarheel220]

1 minute ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yeah, but I also read that they reach out to the winner to process things by phone or email......and no one from the state has called or emailed me today.  I’ll keep checking though.  I suppose if they can’t reach you that way, they’ll go to your home.  

I guess or send a certified letter.  I keep checking my email, you never know!

[Nysha]

2 hours ago, CouchTater said:

I've only done 1 solo vacation and it was domestic.  I've been debating going abroad somewhere, but it would be solo.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

I wouldn't have a problem doing a solo vacation but the most I would do is the Oregon Coast b/c I don't like touristy things. If all I'm going to do is read at the beach and eat out, there's no reason to pay for a vacation to the Caribbean. 

[Suzn]

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

So I did a thing- I booked a trip for Morocco Spring 2022.

I'm another one looking forward to traveling vicariously with you!  That's so exciting.

[Quof]

3 hours ago, CouchTater said:

I've only done 1 solo vacation and it was domestic.  I've been debating going abroad somewhere, but it would be solo.  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

Go! Do it!  I've done multiple solo trips in North America and Western Europe.  It's awesome.   What concerns you/what aren't you "ready for"? 

[CouchTater]

2 minutes ago, Quof said:

Go! Do it!  I've done multiple solo trips in North America and Western Europe.  It's awesome.   What concerns you/what aren't you "ready for"? 

My biggest fear is being with a group of people I don't like, and being stuck for 7-10 days.  

But I've been looking at trips online all afternoon!  😃

[Jynnan tonnix]

4 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

So I did a thing- I booked a trip for Morocco Spring 2022.

How exciting!!! I'd love to see some far-flung places like that, and there are a few on my bucket list, but any time I travel, it seems that I just keep going back to England, because I love it, it's where I lived for the first 10 years of my life, and I have cousins I love over there. That seems to take care of my travel budget!

[Quof]

2 hours ago, CouchTater said:

My biggest fear is being with a group of people I don't like, and being stuck for 7-10 days

So don't go with a group/organized tour.  You can do it!

[jjane]

Hi guys, I haven't been around except to lurk for a few minutes at a time but I wanted to tell @jcbrownhow sorry I am about the loss of her father. You are never ready to lose a parent and I wish you love and peace at this time.

On to the shitshow. The niece found out her daughter managed to get in touch with me and went ballistic. She made her quit her job, threatened several coworkers and when I had the police go out there for a welfare check this child who went from tentatively? calling me one night to face timing mutiple times a day from school and from work suddenly told the officer that I had been calling her and bothering her. All the calls came from her but anybody who is familiar with abuse knows the abuser will threaten bodily harm if the abused tells anyone.  All was quiet until two days ago when I was served with a restraining order alleging that I had threatened both of them and that they were in imminent danger from me. I am 20 hours away and have no intention of going to Colorado because the niece is (1) crazy and (2) always armed. I am dropping the papers to my lawyer this morning to find out if Colorado has any jurisdiction over me. When I tried to get a restraining order against her here I was told it would have to be under stalking and if the court determined that it did not fit the statute I could be liable for over 900 dollars in court costs but it cost her nothing to file there. 

The whole situation is crazy and the abuser always seems to have the upper hand. I literally don't know what to do at this point.

[BetyBee]

@jjane - this may have to be filed under "No good deed goes unpunished." I hope your attorney can protect you from further assaults from this family. I know it's hard, but you may protect yourself best by cutting yourself off from this family. I'm sorry this is happening to you.

Edited June 24, 2021 by BetyBee
It helps to respond to the correct person!

[Jeanne222]

Whatever happened to Quinn?  I hope all is well with her.

[Rootbeer]

15 hours ago, CouchTater said:

My biggest fear is being with a group of people I don't like, and being stuck for 7-10 days.  

But I've been looking at trips online all afternoon!  😃

Odds are, there will be someone in the group that you can relate to.  Or, multiple people that you can spend time with while not feeling stuck with them for the duration. I'm an introvert and love to travel and have done several tours alone as well as many, many vacations on my own.  I've done tours of Greece and Croatia as a solo and met lots of nice people and had a great experience and still had time by myself when I wanted it.  Best of both worlds, IMO.

Also, if 7-10 days seems too long, try a shorter trip, maybe 4 days on a tour and a few days on your own.  You can also sign up for individual day tours once you get to a destination. I've done those in Italy and France and enjoyed them very much and there was no expectation of bonding with the other group members.

If you want to go to places that are popular like the Vatican or various Greek ruins; being on a tour can save a lot of time as you will get transport right to the venue, your tickets are already purchased and you often get to skip the lines of those waiting to get in.  Saves literally hours.  Went to the Vatican on a tour, we were able to walk in within 10 minutes of arriving while those waiting to go in individually were standing in 90 degree heat for an hour and a half.  Yes, you can be stuck with a guide who doesn't cover the stuff you want to see and sometimes can feel rushed, but, at least you get a feel for the place and can decide if you want to return during free time to pick up on things you want to see in more depth.

[peppergal]

36 minutes ago, Rootbeer said:

Odds are, there will be someone in the group that you can relate to.  Or, multiple people that you can spend time with while not feeling stuck with them for the duration. I'm an introvert and love to travel and have done several tours alone as well as many, many vacations on my own.  I've done tours of Greece and Croatia as a solo and met lots of nice people and had a great experience and still had time by myself when I wanted it.  Best of both worlds, IMO.

Also, if 7-10 days seems too long, try a shorter trip, maybe 4 days on a tour and a few days on your own.  You can also sign up for individual day tours once you get to a destination. I've done those in Italy and France and enjoyed them very much and there was no expectation of bonding with the other group members.

If you want to go to places that are popular like the Vatican or various Greek ruins; being on a tour can save a lot of time as you will get transport right to the venue, your tickets are already purchased and you often get to skip the lines of those waiting to get in.  Saves literally hours.  Went to the Vatican on a tour, we were able to walk in within 10 minutes of arriving while those waiting to go in individually were standing in 90 degree heat for an hour and a half.  Yes, you can be stuck with a guide who doesn't cover the stuff you want to see and sometimes can feel rushed, but, at least you get a feel for the place and can decide if you want to return during free time to pick up on things you want to see in more depth.

The day tours are a great option.  I've done this for multiple trips to the UK, Paris, Australia and New Zealand.  I'm in the early planning stages for one to Iceland (want to go during solar maximum in 3-4 years).  The trick is to find one or two good tour companies in your destination and book multiple single day tours through them.  That cuts down on the logistics wrangling which can be daunting if you aren't used to it (ask me about the time I arrived in London only to find my hotel had walked all their pre-booked guests in favor of expensive walk up fares for a festival and I ended up on the other side of the city and had to contact all my tours to change pickup locations!).  I also try to have at least 1 "unscheduled" day in each city, or every 4 days if I'm in a city for a longer period of time.  That gives me a chance to just hang around the hotel if I'm feeling a little tired, or do a local activity I may not have known about ahead of time. 

 

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, jjane said:

Hi guys, I haven't been around except to lurk for a few minutes at a time but I wanted to tell @jcbrownhow sorry I am about the loss of her father. You are never ready to lose a parent and I wish you love and peace at this time.

On to the shitshow. The niece found out her daughter managed to get in touch with me and went ballistic. She made her quit her job, threatened several coworkers and when I had the police go out there for a welfare check this child who went from tentatively? calling me one night to face timing mutiple times a day from school and from work suddenly told the officer that I had been calling her and bothering her. All the calls came from her but anybody who is familiar with abuse knows the abuser will threaten bodily harm if the abused tells anyone.  All was quiet until two days ago when I was served with a restraining order alleging that I had threatened both of them and that they were in imminent danger from me. I am 20 hours away and have no intention of going to Colorado because the niece is (1) crazy and (2) always armed. I am dropping the papers to my lawyer this morning to find out if Colorado has any jurisdiction over me. When I tried to get a restraining order against her here I was told it would have to be under stalking and if the court determined that it did not fit the statute I could be liable for over 900 dollars in court costs but it cost her nothing to file there. 

The whole situation is crazy and the abuser always seems to have the upper hand. I literally don't know what to do at this point.

I am sorry you are going through this. You have done everything you can do for your great niece- there is a paper trial regarding your niece's abusive ways, and now it looks like she is trying to bully you into cutting off contact with your great niece.

You have not threatened anyone and I would like to see the lying niece prove that you have. (which she cannot do) Unfortunately you cannot stop your niece from running again and ruining your great niece's life. I would keep your phone charged and answer it from any strange number so that your great niece can always get in contact with you. She may choose to run away, or when she turns 18 bolt from her abuser. Your number may be the only one she has memorized.

 

[Jeanne222]

So I’m curious about group tours. How do you find a good one?  I’m thinking that might be really nice for one of my daughters. 

[Scarlett45]

10 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

So I’m curious about group tours. How do you find a good one?  I’m thinking that might be really nice for one of my daughters. 

Ive used Monograms/Globus for over a decade. For day tours in the UK I found Rabbies (recommended by a Facebook friend of mine when she heard I was going to Scotland and that I loved Outlander). 

 

The internet makes it pretty easy to research, if you are a part of any travel groups on Facebook they can recommend some good ones, I would read a lot of reviews, and of course personal recommendations. 

[Mindthinkr]

5 hours ago, BetyBee said:

@Mindthinkr - this may have to be filed under "No good deed goes unpunished." I hope your attorney can protect you from further assaults from this family. I know it's hard, but you may protect yourself best by cutting yourself off from this family. I'm sorry this is happening to you.

Are you sure that you meant to respond to me? 
 

[Mindthinkr]

24 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

So I’m curious about group tours. How do you find a good one?  I’m thinking that might be really nice for one of my daughters. 

I second Scarlett45’s answer of Globus. I’ve used them and never had any issues. 
I’ve used them as a way to decide where I want to go back to and then returned solo. Even took my daughter and her friend on one. When she took art history in college she felt great having seen so much of what was covered in person. 

[BetyBee]

31 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

Are you sure that you meant to respond to me? 
 

No, Sorry about that! I'll correct!

[Rootbeer]

2 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

So I’m curious about group tours. How do you find a good one?  I’m thinking that might be really nice for one of my daughters. 

I did a Russian River Cruise with Grand Circle a few years back that was terrific.  They do a lot of the sorts of river tours that Viking does at a much more reasonable cost.  The guides and crew were fantastic.

I toured Greece with Friendly Planet Travel and they are known for relatively small group tours and doing a lot of cultural/educational stuff in addition to the usual tours.  Very good.

Princess Cruises does a land/sea tour to Alaska, several of them actually, that was also excellent.  We went through the inside passage by boat and then did a train/bus/train tour through the Yukon, traveled the AlCan highway to Fairbanks, train to Denali and then to Anchorage. 

I have multiple retired friends who love Road Scholar tours.  Used to be known as Elderhostel, provide tours with a lot of cultural experiences and educational opportunities to people of all ages.  They've got quite a few offerings geared to grandparents traveling with grandkids as well as trips for several generations of a family to experience together.

I've taken a couple of Globus tours domestically, excellent experience.

For day trips, American Express does them almost everywhere in Europe and I've done a bunch including a walking tour of the smaller churches/piazzas/architecture in Rome, a 'city of light' nighttime tour of Paris, and a day trip to Versailles from Paris.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Rootbeer

[awaken]

I'm traveling right now by myself 😁 It's amazing!  Lots of hoops to jump through with covid restrictions, but all well worth it and while it's tiresome, I'm glad the airlines and international destinations are taking it seriously.  I'm doing a combo of winging it and day trips that I researched ahead of time, and some I found out about once I got here. 

[Jeanne222]

My daughter is a divorced teacher so I’m thinking she might like traveling with a like group.   Most of her friends are married so they travel with spouses and nobody wants to be that fifth wheel!

[crazy8s]

On 6/23/2021 at 4:18 PM, Absolom said:

Ours have been open limited numbers and limited hours on three days a week for months.  Two days were for curbside pickup only.  From June 15 they've been open six hours a day five days a week without capacity limits.  

our library has been open for months full time and kids summer reading/story time is back on now. I took 2 grands twice this week (9yr old voracious reader)

I died laughing on things the 9yr old picked for herself and for her brothers, 5 and 7yrs old, who will be here next week. The Day My Butt Went Psycho and the sequel Zombie Butts From Uranus.  The Plant That Ate Stinky Socks, books 1 and 2.

I was picturing Jill taking Izzy and Sam to the library and wondering if she would get the joke on Zombie Butts from Uranus. the graphic novel section for kids is great fun at our library.

[CalicoKitty]

My cat blanket started early tonight.  Lily, the black-and-white cat on the bottom, was sleeping on my lap when Flora, the silver-and-white cat, came and sat right on top of her to take a nap.  Flora outweighs Lily by at least 4 pounds, but she always seems to be on the top of the pile.  Meanwhile, Lily just kept on sleeping (she really isn't too bright!). 20 minutes so far, and no one is moving.  I'm trapped under my cats.

[Cinnabon]

3 hours ago, awaken said:

I'm traveling right now by myself 😁 It's amazing!  Lots of hoops to jump through with covid restrictions, but all well worth it and while it's tiresome, I'm glad the airlines and international destinations are taking it seriously.  I'm doing a combo of winging it and day trips that I researched ahead of time, and some I found out about once I got here. 

Have a great time! I love traveling alone.

 

[iwantcookies]

Anyone hear from @Happyfatchick? 

[jjane]

To those of you who responded to me with supportive words, thank you so much. I fear this is just another of my niece's power trips. I don't even know if Colorado has jurisdiction over me because I responded to my great-niece when she called and texted or if  temporary restraining orders are routinely granted no matter what. She has tried to have my Notary Public

Commision pulled by lying and they laughed at her  but restraining orders are taken very seriously. My attorney here said I wasn't served with all the necessary papers but I will still have to have an attorney there file something. Just another way for this monster to have control over me and cost me money. I have cut ties with the niece  but that doesn't mean she won't try to make my life miserable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by jjane
Spelling, grammar, who knows.