Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

Small Talk: The Prayer Closet


Guest

While we understand the frustration (change is never easy), please keep in mind that not everyone feels the same way and that for those members who don't, the ongoing conversation about other forums and chat options can equally be a cause of frustration.

Out of respect for your fellow posters, we kindly ask that you continue any discussion about alternatives via PM or the Technically Speaking: Bugs, Questions, & Suggestions area.

Recommended Posts

26 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Man, do you ever look back and think, what was I thinking? 

Yes..lol

 I was 16 and almost nine months pregnant (newly married 8 months earlier😁) and I decided to go as a pregnant NUN. (I did win the best costume prize.)😂

Ps a year later I converted and became a Catholic. (I'm agnostic now though)🙃

  • LOL 7
  • Love 2

Gosh. I was never much into Halloween, but one time, in the early 90's, I did manage a good costume. I rented some gear and went as an English Bobby (cop). My hair was shoved up under the hat and I glued on a fake mustache. I'd been invited to a Halloween party, and stood there in my costume talking with a small group. The guy standing next to me was a co-worker (from another section of the office, but still he was someone I'd often talked with). Finally, he very politely introduced himself to me - he honestly hadn't recognized me! That was great.

The not-so-great part, was that the stuff that I used to glue on the fake mustache, gave me a splitting headache all evening. Urgh.

  • LOL 4
  • Love 1
5 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Just checking in.  I am sorry to hear about the troubles of my friends here. Life is heck for some of us. 

sweet son is now in hospice. I cannot imagine a life without my precious child. 

Warm thoughts, warm hugs. May you all have moments of peace, light and love during these unimaginably difficult times.

  • Love 17
46 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

Yes..lol

 I was 16 and almost nine months pregnant (newly married 8 months earlier😁) and I decided to go as a pregnant NUN. (I did win the best costume prize.)😂

Ps a year later I converted and became a Catholic. (I'm agnostic now though)🙃

My Mom was going to be a pregnant nun Halloween 1987 (pregnant with my sister) and my father thought it was in poor taste. So she and I were clowns together- let’s see if I can find the photo (the clown costume accommodated her bumb, my sister was born that January). 

24 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Just checking in.  I am sorry to hear about the troubles of my friends here. Life is heck for some of us. 

sweet son is now in hospice. I cannot imagine a life without my precious child. 

@lookeyloo I am so very sorry for all you and your family has been going through. 

  • Love 8
42 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Just checking in.  I am sorry to hear about the troubles of my friends here. Life is heck for some of us. 

sweet son is now in hospice. I cannot imagine a life without my precious child. 

Always happy to hear from you, even during such a sad time.  I wish you and sweet son and the rest of the family, peace and love and even a little joy as this time of transition is upon you.  God bless you all.

  • Love 21
3 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Just checking in.  I am sorry to hear about the troubles of my friends here. Life is heck for some of us. 

sweet son is now in hospice. I cannot imagine a life without my precious child. 

Hugs and prayers for your son, you, and your family. 

Edited by Lisa418722
  • Love 5

@lookeyloo:  many hugs, prayers and good wishes for you and sweet son as you accompany him on this journey.  The hospice teams are such wonderful guides on this journey. 
All of us here in the Prayer Closet are ready to be here whenever you need us. Drinks of any kind and the snack shelves have been fully stocked for the use of you and your family, 24/7.

  • Love 7

Prayers are requested for my 30 yr old niece, a recent nursing school graduate, who was just diagnosed with COVID 19.  Six other nurses on her floor have also been diagnosed. The hospital is in the Southern Tier area of NY.

She seems to be OK so far, a 99.8 temp, congestion and some dizziness.  She has not lost taste or smell, and hopefully will be OK soon.  She is resting at home.

lookeyloo - much love and peace to you and to all in your son's life.  We are all here for you. 

 

58 minutes ago, marypat57 said:

Prayers are requested for my 30 yr old niece, a recent nursing school graduate, who was just diagnosed with COVID 19.  Six other nurses on her floor have also been diagnosed. The hospital is in the Southern Tier area of NY.

Good thoughts to her for a quick recovery.   As much as we got hit in the Chicago area, New York state really took the prize.  Bless all the health care workers a thousand times over.

Speaking of which, Mini Malotte got a positive test today, so I'd like a few good thoughts too.  Probably picked it up from work, and she's beside herself as she hung out here all day Saturday and is worried she spread it to us.  Felt fine Saturday, then Sunday just kinda stuffy then this morning it was the horror show of sore throat/headache/chills/sinus crap.  I told the husband to shove his Covid Conspiracy speak up somewhere (you guess) and be supportive.  Which he will be but he needs to shut up around me, I don't have time for it.  She's heartbroken because the doc/nurse told her to not have contact with her kitty right now either.  I'd take the cat back here for her quarantine, as long as we don't have it.  She's going to call the vet tomorrow and ask about it.   

     

2 hours ago, marypat57 said:

Prayers are requested for my 30 yr old niece, a recent nursing school graduate, who was just diagnosed with COVID 19.  Six other nurses on her floor have also been diagnosed. The hospital is in the Southern Tier area of NY.

She seems to be OK so far, a 99.8 temp, congestion and some dizziness.  She has not lost taste or smell, and hopefully will be OK soon.  She is resting at home.

I’m sending up prayers for your niece and the other 6 nurses on her floor. They are super special people and so very vital to our continued survival. I hope she’ll be one of those who has few symptoms. Please post how she’s doing, when you can. 

  • Love 7
On 10/20/2020 at 2:41 PM, lookeyloo said:

Just checking in.  I am sorry to hear about the troubles of my friends here. Life is heck for some of us. 

sweet son is now in hospice. I cannot imagine a life without my precious child. 

 

On 10/20/2020 at 2:50 PM, GeeGolly said:

Warm thoughts, warm hugs. May you all have moments of peace, light and love during these unimaginably difficult times.

I'm so sorry, @lookeyloo

  • Love 6

I’m very close to my college roommate who lives in Guatemala City- she’s been struggling a lot with COVID and the lock downs. Well our other roommate (who’s she’s close with but I am just social media friends with) had been on my mind so hard the last week.....turns out her mother passed away Monday and she just made it back to Chile from visiting her mom in Connecticut to say her goodbyes. The pandemic had pushed back the trip three times. She won’t be back again for a funeral but I’m so glad she got to say goodbye to her mom. 
 

So weird I had been thinking of her so much. 
 

So much pain and sadness right now. I’m escaping into Halloween Festivities and my One Tree Hill rewatch. 

  • Love 7

Oh gosh, @Scarlett45, there is indeed too damn much pain and sadness and winter and fear and isolation and general ugliness. I'm imagining a big un-virtual actual warm group hug of all us nice people, and that's a nice thing to think about. Followed by belly laughs. Because.

So here I was, snoozing on the sofa with the football game on, and my mobile phone (across the room of course) blasted out the emergency notification noise. I grabbed it and read an amber alert. Then saw I'd gotten a text. From the issuer of the credit card that I use for - everything. Absolutely everything. 

Fraudulent charges - plural - in the hundreds of dollars were attempted to be placed on the card this evening. Online. 

I got onto the credit card issuer by phone, and in a matter of minutes the card number was closed out and they will FedEx me the new card which should be here Monday. My head is kind of spinning thinking of all the recurring monthly accounts I have on that card. But I'll deal with that when the new card arrives. 

I'm sure I'll never know how my number was stolen. I'm glad the company notified me so quickly. But it sure is unsettling and now I'm going to be checking all my other accounts for signs of fraudulent activity even though that's not logical. 

Edited by Jeeves
Strange double post - and the site is behaving badly
23 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

@Jeeves do you use Barnes and Noble nook app? They had a random ware attack about weeks ago. They said no cc information was taken just email, addresses and phone numbers but I an suspicious about that.

No, I don't use that app. Never got into Nook at all.

I use the card so much these days - including for many small transactions where pre-COVID I would likely have paid cash - and it just takes one bad actor somewhere with a skimmer type device to get the card number. 

I'm going to use my phone's Google Pay feature more often, wherever I can. That's more secure against card skimming. ETA: as @CalicoKitty said below, that's because the credit card number isn't used in the transaction at all (it's like Apple Pay in that respect).

Edited by Jeeves
  • Love 3

This has happened to me a couple of times.  Once the card was used in Florida, when I live in California.  No idea how they got the number.  I have one credit card that I use just for online payments.  I keep it in a drawer and never carry it.  So far (knock on wood) that one has never been breeched.  I also subscribe to Life Lock.  They send you alerts when a new account is opened, or a large charge is made.  Then you tell them if it is your transaction or not.  It does give some peace of mind.  It is an unnerving feeling.  I'm glad your credit card company took care of it for you. I also use PayPal as often as I can for online purchases.  That way the actual credit card number is never used.  Good luck.  

Added info:  I also use ApplePay as much as I can.  No cards involved.

 

Edited by CalicoKitty
more info added
  • Useful 1
  • Love 5

Glad it was caught quickly, @Jeeves

Several years ago I got a text from Discover about suspicious charges. Someone had just used my card info at a vending machine in Virginia to buy about $3 worth of stuff. I immediately called the company and told them I had the card in my hand, was standing in my living room in Arkansas at that very moment, and had never been to Virginia before in my life. They were really good about taking care of it quickly, which I appreciated.

I do quite a bit of the same precautions as @CalicoKitty, including using Paypal as much as possible and having a Lifelock subscription. 

Edited by Zella
  • Love 3

I have PayPal and I’m going to get life lock tomorrow. No fraud attempts lately, but lots of odd stuff online, phishing. It’s like something went wild a couple of weeks ago. I received a copy of a receipt from a Best Buy purchase in a nearby town, only it wasn’t me. It wasn’t on my credit card either. I found the person’s name  on line, was employed with a pharm Corp. She purchased some headphones, office stuff, for around $60.00. I figured it was just a mistake.  Contacted Best Buy and they immediately researched it. Made me feel better. It was not on my card. She somehow gave them my phone number that connects to my email address. So that means she never got her receipt. 

  • Love 4
5 hours ago, Zella said:

Someone had just used my card info at a vending machine in Virginia to buy about $3 worth of stuff.

That's how the bad actors work. They try a small transaction to see how attentive you are to your account.  Some people wouldn't notice it until they got their monthly statement, so the bad guys know they are off to the races running up charges. Some one like me would notice it immediately and get the account shut down.   It's one of the things that major credit card companies look for to trigger a fraud alert.  

  • Love 8

Glad they caught the charges quickly.   A few years ago I was on vacation and I got an email from my credit card that they were questioning some charges.  I called them (while praying for the phone to work since I was in Zion National Park at the time).  No, I had not charged anything on Wal-Mart online at the time because I was on vacation.  Thankfully they did close the account with no problems. My only problem was I was on vacation and could only use my debit card after that point.  I did have to call a couple of places and say "don't use the credit card. Use this card instead."   That was also the year Target was hacked, so I ended up with three different CC numbers in three months.  

Much better than when I still had a Bank of America account and my debit card was hacked.  I noticed there were charges for an online college textbook site and I called the Bank to say it was not my charge.  They were arguing with me that I had charged that.  After I got my money back, I closed the account that I had had for over 20 years.  When asked why was I closing my account after all that time, I just told them poor customer service.  

  • Love 6
43 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Is anyone else having trouble with this site? Like getting errors or just spinning after clicking to open a thread? 

I had trouble with it several times yesterday - from day into evening. Several "timeout" error screens, and then when I hit "submit reply" for the post at the top of this page, it seemed to get hung up. I finally closed it out, and when I reopened the thread, I found my post was there - but it was a double post - everything in order but posted twice. I just opened this page so far today and haven't had trouble. Yet.

Edited by Jeeves
  • Love 1
5 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

I had trouble with it several times yesterday - from day into evening. Several "timeout" error screens, and then when I hit "submit reply" for the post at the top of this page, it seemed to get hung up. I finally closed it out, and when I reopened the thread, I found my post was there - but it was a double post - everything in order but posted twice. I just opened this page so far today and haven't had trouble. Yet.

Sounds just what I've been running into, on & off, for a few days, today included.

  • Love 2
10 hours ago, Jeeves said:

and it just takes one bad actor somewhere with a skimmer type device to get the card number. 

I have a lead lined card holder. That way they can’t get my numbers from using one of those devices next to my purse. I’m amazed these days at all the scams, and frauds. I especially hate all those phone calls trying to get information or bait me. Now I only answer it if I know the person calling and have no voicemail. If you know me you can text me a message if I can’t come to the phone. 

  • Love 3
22 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I have a lead lined card holder. That way they can’t get my numbers from using one of those devices next to my purse. I’m amazed these days at all the scams, and frauds. I especially hate all those phone calls trying to get information or bait me. Now I only answer it if I know the person calling and have no voicemail. If you know me you can text me a message if I can’t come to the phone. 

I was referring more to a skimmer device that someone like a waiter or order taker could use if they handle your card out of your sight. In recent weeks I've done drive-through food orders where I hand my card in through the window and often can't see what the person inside is doing with it. If the person has a little skimmer device hidden on their person they can do a quick swipe of the card to grab my account info. That was a problem some years ago at restaurants - where you give your card to the waiter and they disappear with it to the back, then come back with your bill. I'm sure restaurant managers got wise to that, and the good ones figured out how to set things up so their staff weren't given much leeway to do sneaky sh*t with customers' credit cards. 

As to those RFID blockers, I'm not convinced they do all that much but I suppose they don't hurt either. As I understand it, it's the magnetic stripe on your card that has the important information stored on it; those can't be read remotely. The chips are encrypted and while some information is on them that might be read by a scanning device nearby, it doesn't include your card number (the stripe has that and more). From what I've read, the highest risk of theft of the card information is at the point of sale - where you are actually using the card at a place of business or for an online transaction. 

Speaking of skimmer devices, I saw for myself how effective they can be for thieves. Years ago I took a trip of a lifetime - a tour of Australia and New Zealand. I flew from LAX to Melbourne, and although I hadn't met them until we landed, most of the rest of the tour group was also on that flight. We were met by our tour director at the airport and directed to assemble near a door where we'd eventually board our bus to the hotel. There was of course some waiting around for everyone to clear immigration, baggage claim, etc. It was a rather quiet and out of the way little lobby area, and there was an ATM machine there. This was just when it was becoming practical to use ATMs in a foreign country to get currency, but I'd had time before the trip so had obtained Australian currency at home, and didn't think about using the ATM. A few others in our group decided to use it since it was there in the airport, and we had time while we waited. 

A day or two later, sadly, those who had used the ATM were notified by their credit or debit card issuers that fraudulent charges had been made on their cards from I think France. Their cards were of course blocked, and there they were, Americans in Australia, who had planned to use those cards during the month-long trip - suddenly without those cards. It was determined that there must have been a skimmer device on that ATM, and one guy remembered a young man standing nearby who may have even offered to help him use the ATM. I've since wondered if that ATM was located out of range of the airport surveillance cameras; certainly its out of the way location would make tampering with it easier. I swear, I remember that incident nearly every time I think about using an ATM especially when traveling. I never go near ATMs in little stores or out of the way places. If at all possible I use ATMs located at - and preferably inside - banks.

  • Useful 6
  • Love 4

Ugh my dad's now exhibiting COVID symptoms. My stepmom is still having residual symptoms from her bout with it though has otherwise recovered. He doesn't have a fever or the respiratory stuff right now, thankfully, but other symptoms like headache, aches, fatigue. I know everyone says this, but this year can just go fuck off as far as I'm concerned. 

  • Love 3
9 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

Glad they caught the charges quickly.   A few years ago I was on vacation and I got an email from my credit card that they were questioning some charges.  I called them (while praying for the phone to work since I was in Zion National Park at the time).  No, I had not charged anything on Wal-Mart online at the time because I was on vacation.  Thankfully they did close the account with no problems. My only problem was I was on vacation and could only use my debit card after that point.  I did have to call a couple of places and say "don't use the credit card. Use this card instead."   That was also the year Target was hacked, so I ended up with three different CC numbers in three months.  

Much better than when I still had a Bank of America account and my debit card was hacked.  I noticed there were charges for an online college textbook site and I called the Bank to say it was not my charge.  They were arguing with me that I had charged that.  After I got my money back, I closed the account that I had had for over 20 years.  When asked why was I closing my account after all that time, I just told them poor customer service.  

It seems my credit card gets hacked every couple years on big vacations. Coincidentally, once was while we were also at Zion. We were camping in the park and I know what you mean about cell service! We ate just outside the park and the card was denied at dinner. I called the bank and they cancelled the card immediately. The worst was that we only had the one credit card. The new card would be overnighted, but we were on a road trip and weren't going to be in one spot long enough for the next 4 days. We ended up picking up our new card via general delivery at a post office. I think I know exactly where it was hacked too - a little dive of a burger joint and they took the card into the back to run the check. One of the things they had ordered was a $500 edible arrangement. That's a heck of a lot fruit!

  • Love 4

Zella, I hope your dads ok. Covid is a real a hole. You never know with covid. Some are ok and others really suffer.

I was in my office for almost the entire day, one day this week and I feel anxious about it. I ran this air purifier that a office mate bought for covid, sanitized like crazy, kept mask on, but still.....I met with a new client.  I had her sit 10 feet from me at the opposite end of table.  I sanitized anything she touched before either of us touched it. I think she thought I was a little crazy. Lol

  • Love 7
2 hours ago, realityfan26 said:

The worst was that we only had the one credit card. The new card would be overnighted, but we were on a road trip and weren't going to be in one spot long enough for the next 4 days.

My card was compromised while I was travelling for a long weekend; I explained to my bank that I was travelling and had no other credit card with me.  My hotel and flight were already paid, and I had my debit card, so I would survive until I got home but cancelling the credit card would put a cramp in my shopping plans.   The bank said they would put an alert on the card.  If I wanted to use the card, I was to call a dedicated phone number, answer the security questions and they would unblock the card for that specific transaction.  It was like having a husband in the 1950s.

  • LOL 17
  • Love 7

@SunnyBeBe I know exactly what you’re saying.  I mostly am at home and (thankFULLY!!!) working again.  The movies are rolling again!!  Being alone all the time makes me a little “meh” about Covid - even though I’m on the compound with 470 of my other “Jeffites” (jk!!) we really don’t interact as much as you’d think.  When I go out, I have to find my mask.  (More than once have had to come back home for it).  Most days I sit here and know Covid is not good - and that it’s out there - (like the zombies up against the window in that commercial and the people are oblivious). 
but then...I have these moments when I go all screwy about it and am the sanitizing Queen!  

I will say this.  My baby son (who is no baby, I assure you) has 2 almost 5 yr olds and one 2 yr old.  And when I really think about it, it hurts my heart that they will really not remember a world pre-Covid.  They won’t know a world of handshakes or hugs all around.  Masks will be a thing engrained.  Isn’t that weird to think about?  I think for several months, I kept thinking this was a giant speed bump and we just have to hold our noses and get over it.  It took me a long time to say “wait... CANADA closed its borders???  Can they DO that??  Isn’t Canada just a really enormous STATE that is really part of the US??”  I only recently found out I don’t really do well with change.  Plus (I’ve bitched about this before, sorry for the repeat) we fired our service manager in February (for cause).  Good riddance.  Except that then: Covid.  So the business has been flat since March, and we couldn’t replace him.  Meaning I’ve been home since March.  WHAAAAAAAAAATTTT?????

This is making me a crazy woman.  I told my husband today that if he threw a tent (hell, a SLEEPING BAG!) in the the truck and said let’s go, I would hop in like a country dog.  I’m not a fancy world traveler like so many of you - but I’ve sure never had THIS much grass growing under my feet!  I want to GO!  I’ve got places to see and people to meet!

@Quof, you prompted a story.  Over a hundred years ago, I worked in an office with 4 other girls.  Back then we called ourselves secretaries.  I was very young, and surprisingly, very mouthy (!!!).  We had only cubicles separating us.  We could hear whatever was going on around us.  The front girl was the oldest of our group, far more established.  She made quite a few personal calls every day.  Whenever she identified herself to, say, the electric company or a repair company, she ways said “this is Mrs. Samuel L. Robertson and (blah blah)”.   All of us younger smart mouths would roll our eyes and gag.  One girl said “why don’t you give his rank, too?”  Plus, she pronounced Mrs. as “Miz-Rez”.  Eventually one day, she began a call like that and a voice from the corner yelled out “Tell them your name!”  And of course, it became a theme.  Every time she identified herself as a nameless wife, the whole office would yell “tell them your NAME!!”  

I don’t know why y’all read this junk.  I annoy myself rambling sometimes. 

  • LOL 16

A couple of months ago, I got a notice from PayPal in French. I didn't click any of the links in the email, but immediately checked my account.  Not only was it all in French, but someone had initiated a thousand dollar withdrawal from my bank account.  I I immediately went into panic mode.  I had to figure out how to get in touch with a live human being at PayPal and then the same at my bank.

Luckily I got it all taken care of. But it all happened the day before I had to have surgery on my foot, and wasn't completely taken care of until the day after. 

 

4 hours ago, beckie said:

A couple of months ago, I got a notice from PayPal in French. I didn't click any of the links in the email, but immediately checked my account.  Not only was it all in French, but someone had initiated a thousand dollar withdrawal from my bank account.  I I immediately went into panic mode.  I had to figure out how to get in touch with a live human being at PayPal and then the same at my bank.

Luckily I got it all taken care of. But it all happened the day before I had to have surgery on my foot, and wasn't completely taken care of until the day after. 

 

I had a bad experience with PayPal this past summer. I was desperate to find a bike (impossible to find at that time) and impulsively purchased one from a FB site (mistake!) I doubted my purchase almost immediately afterward when the “company’s “ web site just disappeared, and immediately filed an appeal with PayPal online for a refund. They made me wait 30 days, then said the company had emailed them a tracking number for the delivery. I never I got any delivery, much less a bike! It was a complete scam. PayPal wouldn’t let me file again and I couldn’t reach them by phone at all. Lesson learned! I will use my regular credit cards from now on and will never again order from a random company advertising on fb!

  • Useful 3
  • Love 2
Guest

While we understand the frustration (change is never easy), please keep in mind that not everyone feels the same way and that for those members who don't, the ongoing conversation about other forums and chat options can equally be a cause of frustration.

Out of respect for your fellow posters, we kindly ask that you continue any discussion about alternatives via PM or the Technically Speaking: Bugs, Questions, & Suggestions area.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...