Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Happyfatchick]

@doodlebug, my mother thought sour cream was a staple, but CREAM CHEESE was her magic food.  She used to say “there is no food on earth that’s not improved with a little cream cheese”.  
I was in a restaurant once with a large group of friends, the the one next to me ordered liver.  Me:  What?????  Liver.  On purpose.  It is a mouth full of rusty pipe rubber bands.  You can’t chew it, you can’t swallow it, when you CUT it, it makes that sandy grit sound against your plate.  🤢 there are things I cannot CANNOT put between my teeth.  I also don’t eat cubed steak, and my husband ADORES it.  I make it - but I can’t chew it.  (Although I DO know the all-day mushroom soup method, and can eat that if I’m very very very careful not to put anything close to gristle in my mouth.  

and an odd family thing - I can’t hold a pencil my mouth.  I can’t hold ANYthing in my mouth.  (Curler pins, nails, clothespins, etc).  Makes me gag.  I can hold a pencil between my front teeth sticking straight out like a cigar.  Anything that touches my tongue makes me gag.  Is that weird?  Because I have 2 children (of 3) and 2 grands (of 9) who also can’t do it.  

[Zella]

2 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Agree. Would it be ok to deny the Holocaust?

Exactly! I have some relatives who have fallen down the conspiracy theory hole of where the virus came from, which frustrates me, but they at least agree that it is real and that it is dangerous. In the early days of the pandemic, they voiced doubts about the virus itself, and I pushed back hard. I'm at the point of thinking their current views are a vast improvement, so I let the random weird comment slide because you do sometimes have to pick your battles. But I think when someone just flat-out doesn't believe it is real, that's a battle that needs to be fought, for your own and others' safety, even if they still don't get it. 

[DangerousMinds]

4 minutes ago, Zella said:

Exactly! I have some relatives who have fallen down the conspiracy theory hole of where the virus came from, which frustrates me, but they at least agree that it is real and that it is dangerous. In the early days of the pandemic, they voiced doubts about the virus itself, and I pushed back hard. I'm at the point of thinking their current views are a vast improvement, so I let the random weird comment slide because you do sometimes have to pick your battles. But I think when someone just flat-out doesn't believe it is real, that's a battle that needs to be fought, for your own and others' safety, even if they still don't get it. 

Who cares where the virus came from, it’s the response to it that matters. 

[Zella]

3 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Who cares where the virus came from, it’s the response to it that matters. 

Well, their theories are pretty out there. . . . . I love these particular relatives dearly, but they're quite attached to their conspiracy theories. Even when I was a kid and had to listen to this, I was like "what in the everloving fuck are you talking about?" 

I guess after listening to that kind of stuff for decades, I'm pretty over it, especially when I can tell they are fishing for me to agree with them. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Zella

[CouchTater]

2 hours ago, Zella said:

Exactly! I have some relatives who have fallen down the conspiracy theory hole of where the virus came from, which frustrates me, but they at least agree that it is real and that it is dangerous. In the early days of the pandemic, they voiced doubts about the virus itself, and I pushed back hard. I'm at the point of thinking their current views are a vast improvement, so I let the random weird comment slide because you do sometimes have to pick your battles. But I think when someone just flat-out doesn't believe it is real, that's a battle that needs to be fought, for your own and others' safety, even if they still don't get it. 

Thank God I don't have any non-believers in my life.  Or any other "truthers" for that matter. Well, I do have a nephew with some interesting ideas on African-American history that I haven't totally discounted.  🤔

But back to COVID, what do non-believers think is the end-goal for a COVID lie?  To destroy world economies?  Drive us all into mental and financial depressions?  I just don't get how anyone can think that anyone is somehow benefitting from a global pandemic.  WTF?

Edited October 26, 2020 by CouchTater

[DangerousMinds]

3 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

Thank God I don't have any non-believers in my life.  Or any other "truthers" for that matter. Well, I do have a nephew with some interesting ideas on African-American history that I haven't totally discounted.  🤔

But back to COVID, what do non-believers think is the end-goal for a COVID lie?  To destroy world economies?  Drive us all into mental and financial depressions?  I just don't get how anyone can thing that anyone is somehow benefitting from a global pandemic.  WTF?

And then there are the ones who think it’s all a political plot and will end on Nov 4. Do they not realize that it’s a global pandemic? The rest of the world doesn’t GAF about US elections. I spend far too much time calling these people out on fb every day 🤣.

[Zella]

4 minutes ago, CouchTater said:

I just don't get how anyone can thing that anyone is somehow benefitting from a global pandemic.  WTF?

That was my argument. "Yeah let's detonate the global economy and infrastructure with a terrifying disease we cannot cure! Yeehaw!" It's like Budget James Bond Villain stuff. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Zella

[latetotheparty]

14 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

I'm like that about LIVER (and no, don't tell me I'm cooking it wrong.

Liver is also in the top five. Ugh!

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, DangerousMinds said:

Agree. Would it be ok to deny the Holocaust?

Or HIV? Or tuberculosis? Or Hepatitis? 

[latetotheparty]

@Happyfatchick Cream cheese IS a magic food. It is a STAPLE. I am never without it. 

[PikaScrewChu]

1 hour ago, CouchTater said:

But back to COVID, what do non-believers think is the end-goal for a COVID lie?  To destroy world economies?  Drive us all into mental and financial depressions?  I just don't get how anyone can thing that anyone is somehow benefitting from a global pandemic.  WTF?

Bezos and other owners of mega corporations. Rich got richer. Poor are getting poorer. 

[ouinason]

except even the richest are taking a hit, not getting richer.  Even Amazon has seen losses over the pandemic, and everyone I know is relying on them.  Obviously they aren't suffering the way that the poor are, but they ain't benefiting either.

[GeeGolly]

3 minutes ago, ouinason said:

except even the richest are taking a hit, not getting richer.  Even Amazon has seen losses over the pandemic, and everyone I know is relying on them.  Obviously they aren't suffering the way that the poor are, but they ain't benefiting either.

Actually the richest 1%, including Amazon are making billions. Amazon has already doubled its profit compared to last year. 

[emma675]

I, too, have crazy relatives who have mixed opinions regarding Covid. My aunt believes in it but doesn't believe it's that serious and doesn't believe in wearing masks (she was complaining to my mom about a security guard who asked her to pull her mask up over her nose the other day, ugh). She is basically the reason we're not having a big family Thanksgiving this year--my mom is going through chemo and I have autoimmune stuff and we cannot be around someone who doesn't take Covid seriously and my aunt doesn't understand that. Every day on Facebook she's posting something incredibly stupid or insulting about Covid, the elections, BLM, you name it. I finally muted her before I posted something back that she'll get butt hurt over and cause a family feud. My other aunt and cousin just made the decision to not go to crazy aunt's Thanksgiving dinner so I'm just waiting for the inevitable wailing of how the holidays are just ruined and it will never be the same and the world is against her, blah, blah, blah. To be honest, I'm happy not to go and bite my tongue over half the stuff that comes out of her mouth. 

[rue721]

No matter what happens, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That's how the world is set up (as much as I wish it weren't). If that's evidence of a conspiracy, then the entire economy is a conspiracy.

[iwantcookies]

I have a cousin who believes that COVID is made up. Can’t fix stupid.

[iwantcookies]

Had a phone session with my new psychiatrist today. He is awful. My new therapist is awful. So disappointed. Sigh.

[DangerousMinds]

1 hour ago, ouinason said:

except even the richest are taking a hit, not getting richer.  Even Amazon has seen losses over the pandemic, and everyone I know is relying on them.  Obviously they aren't suffering the way that the poor are, but they ain't benefiting either.

Many of the richest have become a lot richer. 

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Actually the richest 1%, including Amazon are making billions. Amazon has already doubled its profit compared to last year. 

 

Billionaires’ wealth rises to $10.2 trillion amid Covid crisis

Super-rich increase fortunes by more than a quarter during market turmoil

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/07/covid-19-crisis-boosts-the-fortunes-of-worlds-billionaires

Edited October 26, 2020 by DangerousMinds

[DangerousMinds]

1 hour ago, rue721 said:

No matter what happens, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That's how the world is set up (as much as I wish it weren't). If that's evidence of a conspiracy, then the entire economy is a conspiracy.

There’s much more income disparity in this country than most others.

46 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

Had a phone session with my new psychiatrist today. He is awful. My new therapist is awful. So disappointed. Sigh.

Are you looking for a change in your meds? If not, I just tolerate the (phone) visits with my psychiatrist in order to keep getting my refills. They assigned me a new one and I wasn’t happy, because I absolutely loved my other one . But all I need him for right now is med refills, so it’s not a big deal.

[frenchtoast]

We weren't going to do anything for Thanksgiving this year because having moved away from family, traveling back for holidays a few months later seems a bit much. Add COVID on top of that and we're good staying home. Friends that are family are still planning to visit for Christmas (so they can avoid a mother, hahaha) but we'll see how bad the "numbers" are. They're in MA where things aren't great but we're in TX where things are really not great. The benefit of moving to a place where we know practically no-one is that we have no temptation to go out anywhere. My son never liked going out to restaurants and now my daughter is really liking just doing take-out and Mr. Toast is bummed about this development. It has made following the recommendation to stay home and avoid gatherings very, very easy. 

[iwantcookies]

5 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

There’s much more income disparity in this country than most others.

Are you looking for a change in your meds? If not, I just tolerate the (phone) visits with my psychiatrist in order to keep getting my refills. They assigned me a new one and I wasn’t happy, because I absolutely loved my other one . But all I need him for right now is med refills, so it’s not a big deal.

He already messing with my meds 😞

[Happyfatchick]

@iwantcookies, you just can’t win.  I hate for you that you seem so alone in your battles.  So much of the time.  
“secretly” (!) I feel vindicated by so many others having that one oddball relative too.  I usually do try to be patient with Bill, because I love him.  He’s a brother to me.  I love him like air.  And even my husband is protective of him - keeps him employed and pays him nicely.  Bill is at work rain or shine and works at (whatever) all day.  He keeps the shop clean, buses clean, trash picked up and taken out, grass cut, birds nests out of odd places.  He’s a handyman. 
 

the FAA is directly behind one of our most frequented hangouts.   Venus comes out at roughly the same place (depending on the time of year) every night, to the northwest of the entrance door.  Bill and my husband have a looooong running and stooooooopid discussion every time we walk out.  Bill believes it’s a drone, sent up to surveil by the FAA.  Astronomy is not my strong suit (somewhere near liver and rutabagas) - but that’s no drone, it’s a STAR!!!  (Or a planet).   I’m always begging my husband (before we get there) “just let him have his drone!!!”  Nope.  He cannot leave that alone.  Cannot. 

but frequently his accidental word play is hilarious.  

he watched one of those David Attenborough shows and caught a bit about this shrimp that lives on the sea floor at its deepest.  He’s describing it and says “it has testicles right up next to its eyes!!”  (meaning tentacles of course) Which of course set us into fits and descriptions of what you’d see if your testicles were next to your eyes...

and the one memorable night he’d seen something on TV that involved a man wearing big rubber boots that Bill continually referred to as rubbers.  One of those stories I was thinking “this is going to end badly...”.  I’m not saying the term “rubbers” is bad; it’s common and not ugly most places - except in the south where we don’t call them rubbers.  Ever, actually.  On and on about this guy pulling his rubbers on his feet, sliding around the deck, getting his rubber caught (and there maybe was a shark involved) and my husband said with the most solemn straight face EVER “how BIG was this rubber?????”

[GeeGolly]

8 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

He already messing with my meds 😞

Remember Cookie, doctors work for us. If your meds are working fine, you need to tell him you don't need changes.

[PikaScrewChu]

1 hour ago, GeeGolly said:

Actually the richest 1%, including Amazon are making billions. Amazon has already doubled its profit compared to last year. 

Yep. Amazon has been a huge thorn in the side of independent retailers for a long time. They were able to capitalize during shelter in place orders (much like delivery apps) when a lot of independent retailers were required to close. Why go stand in line to get into a store when Amazon has same day or next day delivery?

Also worth noting that Amazon isn't just physical goods. They have a finger in every pie. AWS is extremely profitable.

[Minivanessa]

3 minutes ago, Happyfatchick said:

and the one memorable night he’d seen something on TV that involved a man wearing big rubber boots that Bill continually referred to as rubbers.  One of those stories I was thinking “this is going to end badly...”.  I’m not saying the term “rubbers” is bad; it’s common and not ugly most places - except in the south where we don’t call them rubbers.  Ever, actually.  On and on about this guy pulling his rubbers on his feet, sliding around the deck, getting his rubber caught (and there maybe was a shark involved) and my husband said with the most solemn straight face EVER “how BIG was this rubber?????”

Oh, that's a giggle! 

The Brits call an eraser (you know, like kids use in school) a "rubber." Years ago at work in the course of getting some contract or other done, I had several conversations with a nice guy. He was a Brit who with his young family had recently moved to the US, I think for work. We were chatting one day about the inevitable adjustments involved. He told me that his son was doing fine in first grade - but only after a shaky beginning. The kid had startled (or shocked) his teacher (and probably more savvy classmates) by asking if he could borrow a rubber. Two nations divided by a common language . . . 

[DangerousMinds]

26 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

He already messing with my meds 😞

Did you tell him you’re doing fine on your current regimen? Why does he want to adjust them?

[iwantcookies]

7 minutes ago, DangerousMinds said:

Did you tell him you’re doing fine on your current regimen? Why does he want to adjust them?

He removed 1 to see if it will affect me. I kept saying I’m stable on what I got now. He wants to change my medication. I’m on 2 right now. I didn’t care how he was talking to me either like I’m an idiot basically.

 

@Happyfatchick thank you for all the laughs ! Big hug for you 🎁

[GeeGolly]

15 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

He removed 1 to see if it will affect me. I kept saying I’m stable on what I got now. He wants to change my medication. I’m on 2 right now. I didn’t care how he was talking to me either like I’m an idiot basically.

 

@Happyfatchick thank you for all the laughs ! Big hug for you 🎁

Keep speaking up for yourself. Sometimes new docs do better, sometimes they don't. Sometimes their ego gets the better of them and they get in pissing contests with docs they don't even know. 

[DangerousMinds]

21 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

He removed 1 to see if it will affect me. I kept saying I’m stable on what I got now. He wants to change my medication. I’m on 2 right now. I didn’t care how he was talking to me either like I’m an idiot basically.

 

@Happyfatchick thank you for all the laughs ! Big hug for you 🎁

If the one he removed has some potential for harm, like some pain medications or benzodiazepines, that may be the reason why he wanted to see what happens without it. Other meds can affect liver and kidneys if taken long term. I think it’s important to know why he wanted to take you off the one med . I always ask a lot of questions if I don’t understand their reasoning.

Edited October 26, 2020 by DangerousMinds

[Lisa418722]

@beckie, she looked like such a sweetie.  I'm so sorry.  

As far as liver - I have HATED liver my entire life.  When I was a little kid I had low iron and when my parents were talking to the doctor about it, my dad said, "good.  She will finally have to eat liver."  The doctor - a man with a British accent that my southern ears always had trouble understanding until he retired - just laughed and said "she won't eat liver.  I'll just write a prescription for her" (this was in the days before you could buy it over the counter).  God bless Dr. Sell, he knew me better than my own dad did. I still refuse to eat liver to this day. 

Edited October 26, 2020 by Lisa418722

[whydoiwatch]

@BECKIE, her sweetness just shines through in the picture. I am so very sorry.

[SunnyBeBe]

I think I love just about every food there is. Lol All fruits, veggies, herbs, meats, etc.  The only things that I don’t like are heavy tarragon dishes, licorice  and thousand island dressing.  I wish I didn’t like liver. It’s not very healthy for you, but I like it otherwise. I avoid it for that reason. And beets are one of my favorite foods. I wish I was a little more picky. Lol

[iwantcookies]

I like liver I just can’t cook it at all. My mom made it delicious!

[DangerousMinds]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think I love just about every food there is. Lol All fruits, veggies, herbs, meats, etc.  The only things that I don’t like are heavy tarragon dishes, licorice  and thousand island dressing.  I wish I didn’t like liver. It’s not very healthy for you, but I like it otherwise. I avoid it for that reason. And beets are one of my favorite foods. I wish I was a little more picky. Lol

I also like most foods. Even thousand island dressing! But no liver.

[rue721]

I love liver, especially chicken livers. It’s so fatty, it should be very tender when you’re eating it! But yeah, not very healthy. 
 

I hated beets as a kid, but like them now. I usually eat them cold with a vinaigrette, but need to roast them for a really long time beforehand so they’re tender and cooked.
 

My parents would serve chicken livers and rice, and beets and hard boiled eggs as two of our main dinners when I was growing up 😂 I wasn’t a fan, but in retrospect, I think my parents probably leaned so hard on them because they were cheap and had lots of vitamins!

[ChiCricket]

Any other weirdos here that can't stand cantaloupe?

I can't even stand to have one cut up in my house...ugh..the smell.🤢

 And why oh WHY do many fruit salads (like in hotels or restaurants) have so much cantaloupe in them??

  Just me? 😁

[Jynnan tonnix]

On 10/25/2020 at 7:54 PM, Temperance said:

@Jynnan tonnix According to someone in Connecticut, your area of the state is starting to have an strong increase in COVID cases. Be careful.

Yeah, it's disheartening after how well we were doing over the summer. Still, we are doing a lot better than many other areas of the country, all told, so I'm hopeful that the spike will be fairly short-lasting. We are staying as isolated as we have been during this whole thing...Only going out for necessities, and staying within out small family "bubble". Grandjynlet is back in daycare, but it's extremely carefully run. My cold has run its course, and have managed not to give it to anyone else, even though I was sure it was not covid-related.

[Oldernowiser]

24 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

Any other weirdos here that can't stand cantaloupe?

Raises hand. (Shudder. HATE.)*

And there aren’t many food I won’t eat. Pickled herring. Pineapple on pizza. That’s pretty much the extent of it.

* Honeydew melon. Same thing, just different color.

Edited October 27, 2020 by Oldernowiser

[Scarlett45]

31 minutes ago, ChiCricket said:

Any other weirdos here that can't stand cantaloupe?

I can't even stand to have one cut up in my house...ugh..the smell.🤢

 And why oh WHY do many fruit salads (like in hotels or restaurants) have so much cantaloupe in them??

  Just me? 😁

I don’t like cantaloupe. I also don’t like fruit salad. I’m fine with most fruits individually (I love produce actually), but I’ll never understand why ppl want to mix them all up!

[Panopticon]

I’m on team eat everything.

Except carrots. By all means, give me spinach, Lima beans, Brussels sprouts, and the other vegetables that are usually maligned. Beets? I’ll grate them into a lovely veggie burger. 

But no carrots. Please!

[iwantcookies]

Mmm pickled herring yummy 

 

[DangerousMinds]

44 minutes ago, Jynnan tonnix said:

Yeah, it's disheartening after how well we were doing over the summer. Still, we are doing a lot better than many other areas of the country, all told, so I'm hopeful that the spike will be fairly short-lasting. We are staying as isolated as we have been during this whole thing...Only going out for necessities, and staying within out small family "bubble". Grandjynlet is back in daycare, but it's extremely carefully run. My cold has run its course, and have managed not to give it to anyone else, even though I was sure it was not covid-related.

Be careful! If you can pass a cold  around your family, you can just as easily catch Covid and pass that around.

Edited October 27, 2020 by DangerousMinds

[iwantcookies]

Russian beet salad is delicious 

 

and then there is this

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/213107/russian-beet-salad-with-herring/

 

beets and herring and eggs yummmmmyyyyy

 

I need to go to a Russian grocery store with a a salad bar soon lol

[DangerousMinds]

20 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

Russian beet salad is delicious 

 

and then there is this

 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/213107/russian-beet-salad-with-herring/

 

beets and herring and eggs yummmmmyyyyy

 

I need to go to a Russian grocery store with a a salad bar soon lol

Are salad bars open in NYC right now? I miss them and they’re still closed down here.

[Nysha]

5 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

He removed 1 to see if it will affect me. I kept saying I’m stable on what I got now. He wants to change my medication. I’m on 2 right now. I didn’t care how he was talking to me either like I’m an idiot basically.

@iwantcookies, does your doctor's office send you an email or text to review his service. He should have explained exactly why he wanted to change your meds and not talk to you like you're an idiot. If there is a way to give him a review, do that. Even in my small community there is a lot of competition in the medical field, so a bad review is usually acted upon.

My grandson's doctor was pushing to put him back on a medication I felt was not a good fit instead of the one that I was requesting, that I knew worked. When I got the email to review my visit, I wrote that I did not appreciate the way he ignored what I was saying and the push for a very expensive drug whose possible side effects were harmful and permanent. At our next visit the doctor's attitude had definitely been adjusted.

[iwantcookies]

1 minute ago, DangerousMinds said:

Are salad bars open in NYC right now? I miss them and they’re still closed down here.

The Russian ones never closed 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Nysha said:

@iwantcookies, does your doctor's office send you an email or text to review his service. He should have explained exactly why he wanted to change your meds and not talk to you like you're an idiot. If there is a way to give him a review, do that. Even in my small community there is a lot of competition in the medical field, so a bad review is usually acted upon.

My grandson's doctor was pushing to put him back on a medication I felt was not a good fit instead of the one that I was requesting, that I knew worked. When I got the email to review my visit, I wrote that I did not appreciate the way he ignored what I was saying and the push for a very expensive drug whose possible side effects were harmful and permanent. At our next visit the doctor's attitude had definitely been adjusted.

No and it’s a big hospital. I’m just disappointed in his attitude toward me especially this is our first meeting. 

[Olliesmom]

Can’t stand tomatoes.  How anyone can eat a slice of tomato on a sandwich, I don’t understand. And when you slice them, all that juice oozes out eeewwww

[DangerousMinds]

8 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

The Russian ones never closed 

 

 

No and it’s a big hospital. I’m just disappointed in his attitude toward me especially this is our first meeting. 

Was it a potentially addictive medication he took you off?

1 minute ago, Olliesmom said:

Can’t stand tomatoes.  How anyone can eat a slice of tomato on a sandwich, I don’t understand. And when you slice them, all that juice oozes out eeewwww

I like tomatoes in most forms EXCEPT when they’re thickly sliced. Or cherry tomatoes, I won’t eat those. But all other types, great!

[Nysha]

A friend of mine cans sliced cinnamon candy beets that are one of the best things I've ever eaten, other than those, beets taste like dirt to me, also. Cilantro is vile, it ruins every dish it encounters. My college cafeteria used to make a simple rice dish w/mixed veggies and basil that was great until they switched out the basil for cilantro.

I love the taste of liver, but I can't take the texture. A friend of mine has made it edible for me by slicing it super thin, then breading and frying it. It's almost like a liver crisp, all of the flavor without the weird texture.

I was raised to eat what I was given whether I liked it or not, so it's a good thing I was never a picky eater. As an adult the only thing I've found that I'll never eat again is okra. I also won't eat brains or kidneys because the thought grosses me out.

[emma675]

I don't think I'm a super taster but beets taste like dirt, cilantro tastes like soap, kale tastes like the smell of fresh cut grass, and sweet pickles are the work of the devil. I think I'm just fairly picky and I have a weird thing with textures (cantaloupe and melons, including watermelon, gross me out). I have a friend who refuses to eat spinach because of the way it squeaks/feels against her teeth. We all have our weird food issues, lol.