Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Cherry Cola]

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Brown kid- no doubt, but I would say before TLC showed up. Christine seems to have really enjoyed being a caregiver and has genuine affection for all of the children she helped raise. I think there are genuine sibling relationships between the older kids that were encouraged. The Browns may disagree with things their parents have done but they were never threatened with eternal damnation because they disagreed. Male children (i.e. Logan) were taught caregiving and domestic skills- it didnt all fall on the girl children.

 

I hope all the Mom's and mom-like figures had a good day yesterday. Mom said she enjoyed her day and her fancy lunch (takeout), we watched Jupiter's Legacy on Netflix, and my sister's caregiver worked. 

I had a trauma yesterday. (in spoilers in case no one wants to read the grossness) 

  Hide contents

 

Last week M (my sister's caregiver) saw mouse droppings again and when O (my friend) came over last week when my Mom was in the hospital she saw a mouse, so I called the exterminator back, set more poison boxes and snap traps downstairs. 

Yesterday evening a mouse appeared on my kitchen sink, but moving slowly (likely because of the poison),
I knocked it in the sink and turned the pot over to catch it- Blake is officially RETIRED because he was in the hallway not helping. 

I then got disposable gloves and plastic bags, turned the water on to try and drown it, lifted the pot up and it started moving again, I had to catch the mouse in the sink as it was moving in-between the plastic bags, stuff it in another bag and take it to the alley.

 

Cosmo had his first vet appointment with me. He is 92 lbs and needs dental chews. NINETY TWO! They want him to be 80.

The dog is beautiful! 

I would pick the Browns too and Christine for my mom. 

[SunnyBeBe]

There is a cat that I occasionally see in the back yard.  I wish she was more fierce at hunting this moles/voles.  I thought she was a stray, but after a year, it’s apparent she has a home somewhere in the neighborhood. I only see her about once a week, but I’m not there full time.    There are no dogs that come on the property.  I have also noticed that there are no squirrels, which doesn’t bother me at all. But, I’m curious as to why.  There are plenty of trees and places for them to live and play.   I did see one rabbit!  I’d like a bunch of those to eat the grass.  
 

This is good news!
https://abc11.com/health/fda-authorizes-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-for-ages-12-to-15/10609600/

[frenchtoast]

14 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

There is a cat that I occasionally see in the back yard.  I wish she was more fierce at hunting this moles/voles.  I thought she was a stray, but after a year, it’s apparent she has a home somewhere in the neighborhood. I only see her about once a week, but I’m not there full time.    There are no dogs that come on the property.  I have also noticed that there are no squirrels, which doesn’t bother me at all. But, I’m curious as to why.  There are plenty of trees and places for them to live and play.   I did see one rabbit!  I’d like a bunch of those to eat the grass.  
 

This is good news!
https://abc11.com/health/fda-authorizes-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine-for-ages-12-to-15/10609600/

My mom called to tell me about the vaccine news. My daughter is 15 so we've been waiting for that. Now to see when I can schedule her....woo!!

[SunnyBeBe]

I hope they include younger children for the vaccine soon. My youngest niece just turned 11.  .........correction. I have a NEW great niece that is younger at 3 weeks of age!

Edited May 11, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Cherry Cola]

11 hours ago, frenchtoast said:

My mom called to tell me about the vaccine news. My daughter is 15 so we've been waiting for that. Now to see when I can schedule her....woo!!

Oof.  That is terrible news. I totally understand that you all want to be healthy.  I am not knocking any of you for that. But ..The vaccine is experimental.  Please do lots and lots of research.  It has not been properly tested. There hasn't been enough time for that. The rate of recovery for covid is so high, why risk the terrible things that are happening to people for that? Brain bleeding, clots, skin problems, amputations, death! All worse than covid itself. Please be very very careful. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Cherry Cola

[crazycatlady58]

19 minutes ago, Cherry Cola said:

Oof.  That is terrible news. I totally understand that you all want to be healthy.  I am not knocking any of you for that. But ..The vaccine is experimental.  Please do lots and lots of research.  It has not been properly tested. There hasn't been enough time for that. The rate of recovery for covid is so high, why risk the terrible things that are happening to people for that? Brain bleeding, clots, skin problems, amputations, death! All worse than covid itself. Please be very very careful. 

The changes of a bad reaction to the vaccine are very low. 

[Cherry Cola]

7 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

The changes of a bad reaction to the vaccine are very low. 

That is just not true. Please do some research on that.  Not trying to argue with anyone. Just don't want people hurt because of lack of info. 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/COpKQCbC0iP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Edited May 11, 2021 by Cherry Cola

[GeeGolly]

29 minutes ago, Cherry Cola said:

Oof.  That is terrible news. I totally understand that you all want to be healthy.  I am not knocking any of you for that. But ..The vaccine is experimental.  Please do lots and lots of research.  It has not been properly tested. There hasn't been enough time for that. The rate of recovery for covid is so high, why risk the terrible things that are happening to people for that? Brain bleeding, clots, skin problems, amputations, death! All worse than covid itself. Please be very very careful. 

5 minutes ago, Cherry Cola said:

That is just not true. Please do some research on that.  Not trying to argue with anyone. Just don't want people hurt because of lack of info. 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/COpKQCbC0iP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Please follow the science. Please use reputable sources when looking for information. And please don't suggest to anyone what they should or should not do in regard to vaccines.

 

[crazycatlady58]

8 minutes ago, Cherry Cola said:

That is just not true. Please do some research on that.  Not trying to argue with anyone. Just don't want people hurt because of lack of info. 

https://www.instagram.com/tv/COpKQCbC0iP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I think your family Dr. is the best place to get medical information. 

[Cherry Cola]

18 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

Please follow the science. Please use reputable sources when looking for information. And please don't suggest to anyone what they should or should not do in regard to vaccines.

 

I do follow the science.  It says That the recovery rate for covid is at least 95% . Why do all the trust the science people not acknowledge that part?! 

Science also says to study vaccines for 5 to 7 years.  So? That doesn't matter?

An untested vaccine is not safe. 

Read my message again, all I did was tell people to research. 

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Cherry Cola

[Tikichick]

Yes, the vaccines clearly have at this point been approved for emergency use during a worldwide crisis due to an ongoing pandemic.   However it should not be overlooked that, while the vaccines are new because this virus is new, coronaviruses are not and these vaccines were able to be available so remarkably quickly because the vaccines are not wholly new.   They are based off of years work of research developing a vaccine for things such as SARS, as well as things learned and used in development of other vaccines that we have been routinely using for other things.

There is absolutely some new stuff there, but they're not wholly cut from new cloth. 

[GeeGolly]

• 32 million confirmed US cases of covid 19
• Over a half million confirmed US deaths from covid 19
• 200 million of US citizens vaccinated for covid 19
• 0 deaths attributed to either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines

[Absolom]

The first place I check when someone tells me to research something medical is quackwatch.  My hairdresser, yes I know not a bastion of medical information, told me high dose vitamin C was curing COVID in China and also was helping her with her dreadful withdrawal from topical steroid use.  Yeah, there was her medical source right there on quackwatch.  Those "medical papers" she referenced?  Not a one peer reviewed.  I did find a peer reviewed article of Chinese research showing the high dose vitamin C treatment did not have a statistical benefit. 

[Liddy52]

My grandson has severe immunity issues. We have been sitting on ready to get him and his sister vaccinated. My daughter in law had all the possible sites programmed in her phone. When we got word yesterday evening at 5:30 Eastern time, she and I started checking all the sites. By 9:00 last night,, she had them at appointment for this Friday at a local pharmacy.  Now they can soon resume a more normal life. For over a year, they have been living a very isolated lives, so we are very excited to get this process going

[Guest]

Please remember to keep civil - differing opinions are allowed, but incivility over the opinions are not.

[peppergal]

12 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I hope they include younger children for the vaccine soon. My youngest niece just turned 11.  .........correction. I have a NEW great niece that is younger at 3 weeks of age!

Keep an eye on the advisory panel meeting on June 10.  That's where they will discuss expanding the EUAs for children.  It's more of a general discussion not a discussion of a specific vendor's vaccine this time, but it will be the best window we have into how the wind is blowing.

You can stream the panel meetings online.  If you are sciency, they can be quite fascinating, though listening to the public comment part of the meetings can be infuriating, as in listening to the Duggars opine about transgender bathroom access levels of infuriating.  I watched the meetings for all three of the vaccines that got the EUA and found being able to see the underlying data from the studies quite enlightening.  They even got into some ethical questions like what to do with study participants who had gotten the placebo.

[Tikichick]

Can someone educated in medicine explain why setting the vaccine levels for kids is so tricky?   I can understand the concept that smaller bodies would probably correlate to a smaller dose, but I've heard something about the fact that very young and immature immune systems don't necessarily work the way mature ones do, so that impacts consideration of how to administer the vaccine also.   

[Cherry Cola]

On 5/11/2021 at 10:41 AM, GeeGolly said:

• 32 million confirmed US cases of covid 19
• Over a half million confirmed US deaths from covid 19
• 200 million of US citizens vaccinated for covid 19
• 0 deaths attributed to either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines

A little google search or duck duck go search tells me that there most certainly are pfizer deaths. So....

Edited May 13, 2021 by Cherry Cola

[frenchtoast]

9 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

Can someone educated in medicine explain why setting the vaccine levels for kids is so tricky?   I can understand the concept that smaller bodies would probably correlate to a smaller dose, but I've heard something about the fact that very young and immature immune systems don't necessarily work the way mature ones do, so that impacts consideration of how to administer the vaccine also.   

There are few things about pediatric studies. Many times parents don't want to have their children in studies. Informed consent is hugely difficult. But also, a pediatric system is different than an adult system so it's not so much a smaller dose.

As for following the science, I'm well versed in how FDA works, thank you thanks to my job in Reg Affairs. It's not random and there's a reason things move slowly. Vaccines as a class have been very, very well documented and it's not new. There's more danger from daughter getting shot in a classroom considering her school announces that there are firearms in the school than she is being harmed by a vaccine. 

I wish you understood how those deaths are rated. FDA considers any death so whether the person was in a car accident it will be listed. Whether it can be contributed to the vaccine or not is another question and there have been no deaths attributed to Pfizer. A car is more dangerous than a vaccine. I understand fully risk to benefit and I don't need a stranger that does not know me offering ill-informed advice regarding my child. 

(I'm so glad Primetimer has the Ignore feature.)

Edited May 11, 2021 by frenchtoast

[Tikichick]

5 minutes ago, frenchtoast said:

There are few things about pediatric studies. Many times parents don't want to have their children in studies. Informed consent is hugely difficult. But also, a pediatric system is different than an adult system so it's not so much a smaller dose.

As for following the science, I'm well versed in how FDA works, thank you thanks to my job in Reg Affairs. It's not random and there's a reason things move slowly. Vaccines as a class have been very, very well documented and it's not new. There's more danger from daughter getting shot in a classroom considering her school announces that there are firearms in the school than she is being harmed by a vaccine. 

I wish you understood how those deaths are rated. FDA considers any death so whether the person was in a car accident it will be listed. Whether it can be contributed to the vaccine or not is another question and there have been no deaths attributed to Pfizer. A car is more dangerous than a vaccine. I understand fully risk to benefit and I don't need a stranger that does not know me offering ill-informed advice regarding my child. 

I was just asking a genuine question about things I just don't understand about why it's tricky to sort out a child dose, and when and how a vaccine will work for a child.   I am grateful to be fully vaxed and do believe in the science about vaccines.  

I understand some general ideas about how and why kids and vaccines is trickier to sort out, but I had never heard until recently that immune systems of young children actually have some functional differences to those of more mature kids and adults.   That's all my question was about.

Edited May 11, 2021 by Tikichick

[frenchtoast]

@Tikichick I was trying to explain in general that yes, children are different. There isn't really a good understanding but it's hard because infants, toddlers and children aren't really great at communicating either. The rest of the post was not directed to that question and I'm sorry I didn't delineate. 

[Rabbittron]

I was talking to a friend of mine who asked me how many Duggars still lived at home and I said too fucking many. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I shared this elsewhere, but it’s so awesome I wanted to post it here too.  I’ve loved Cat Stevens since childhood.  He’s changed his name and has a new book out!

 

Edited May 11, 2021 by SunnyBeBe

[Mindthinkr]

Tea for the Tillerman was one of my favorite albums in my youth. 

[ginger90]

Cat Steven’s, Father and Son, one of my favorites.

[CalicoKitty]

I'm waiting for the all game to start on TV, and I flipped to the Olympic Channel.  I have never seen group rhythmic gymnastics before.  It is a really interesting sport.  These girls have had such a lot of training.  I guess part of my amazement is that I can't walk across a board sitting the ground without teetering, and these routines are so complicated.

[SunnyBeBe]

I’m a big fan of Very Young and Wild One. Too many great ones to pick from.

[marypat57]

When my best friend got married in 1973, she walked down the aisle to “Morning Has Broken”.  The priest who married them played the guitar and sang.  Some of us sang along with him.

[Cinnabon]

9 hours ago, Cherry Cola said:

7 hours ago, Cherry Cola said:

A little google search or duck duck go search tells me that there most certainly are pfizer deaths. So....

May I ask your source?

Edited May 11, 2021 by Cinnabon

[sixlets]

A huge thank you to everyone who commented on the grocery delivery topic.  I'm a member of Swagbucks, and they're currently offering 11,000 Bucks if you join Walmart+.  I might be able to combine with Rakuten, which is offering $50 on an annual membership.  Those are making the $98 a bit easier to swallow.  Thanks again!

 

[Scarlett45]

32 minutes ago, sixlets said:

A huge thank you to everyone who commented on the grocery delivery topic.  I'm a member of Swagbucks, and they're currently offering 11,000 Bucks if you join Walmart+.  I might be able to combine with Rakuten, which is offering $50 on an annual membership.  Those are making the $98 a bit easier to swallow.  Thanks again!

 

I love Rakuten🥰. 

[peppergal]

The swagbucks rebate for getting WM+ is great right now (that's where I got the $50 rebate earlier this year).  Also, as long as you shop via the SB portal and not the WM app directly, you'll qualify for the 1% SB credit on purchases too for items you have shipped.  I don't do Rakutan, but they may also have a cashback option for purchases. 

 

 

[BetyBee]

I've had to cover our new plants with sheets the last 2 nights and bring my hanging plants inside for the night. It's practically mid-May in Chicagoland. We are having some nice, sunny days, but I wish it would warm up for real!

[Minivanessa]

13 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

I've had to cover our new plants with sheets the last 2 nights and bring my hanging plants inside for the night. It's practically mid-May in Chicagoland. We are having some nice, sunny days, but I wish it would warm up for real!

We've had temps no higher than the 40s for the last three or four days here in Denver. Rain and even some snow. It's spozed to be 61F today which will be a nice change. TBH the drought situation in this state is so awful that I welcome every drop or flake of precip that nature sends down on us.

I do appreciate the sunny days and intend to get out to a park today with my camera and walk around. It's been a week. Sigh. Had to have a tooth crowned last week. Then from Sunday through yesterday I was experiencing vertigo. Sunday was the worst. I tried the Epley maneuver because my doc diagnosed me with BPPV late last year. It didn't hurt and may have helped.

We're still in the intensive work phase of administering my friend's probate estate (I'm executor). But I'm managing to keep up. 

I spent too much time on the Smuggar discussion in these days after all the news broke - another good reason to put on the walking shoes and get out of the damn house. 

[Scarlett45]

21 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

I've had to cover our new plants with sheets the last 2 nights and bring my hanging plants inside for the night. It's practically mid-May in Chicagoland. We are having some nice, sunny days, but I wish it would warm up for real!

Who are you telling? I had my had, gloves, and short north face on while I was walking Cosmo. You know we typically dont get a spring, its winter for 100yrs, then SNEEZE of spring, and then its hot. We were teased by those warm days in April, but BY GOLLY can I put the gloves away???

[BetyBee]

48 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Who are you telling? I had my had, gloves, and short north face on while I was walking Cosmo. You know we typically dont get a spring, its winter for 100yrs, then SNEEZE of spring, and then its hot. We were teased by those warm days in April, but BY GOLLY can I put the gloves away???

True enough @Scarlett45! Last year it snowed on my birthday in May and that had never happened before in my life! The hot weather will come and I'll probably be wishing for cooler temps. But we do get spring here in the sense of tulips, daffodils and flowering trees. Also baby ducks and geese. It's just hard to know what to wear, isn't it? And when to bring out the summer clothes!

[Scarlett45]

3 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

True enough @Scarlett45! Last year it snowed on my birthday in May and that had never happened before in my life! The hot weather will come and I'll probably be wishing for cooler temps. But we do get spring here in the sense of tulips, daffodils and flowering trees. Also baby ducks and geese. It's just hard to know what to wear, isn't it? And when to bring out the summer clothes!

I cannot recall a time I wish for cooler temps, as I say "humans are a tropical species"😃

 

But I too long to pull out my "off season trunk" and switch out the clothes to my summer things. That always feels like shopping, but it is free! There are talks of RTTO (return to the office) in beginning in July, so I will need decent things to wear. I also need to take my winter coats to the cleaners, I always do that this time of year so they are fresh for November.

[Marshmallow Mollie]

I live in the American south and having similar problems with this roller coaster spring. I have a space heater for cold mornings, and every time I get ready to store it for the summer, the weather report shows to keep it out.

I have a few plants I have been shuffling from outside to the garage so they don’t get too cold at night.

A major upside is my hVAC unit is barely running. I love saving money.

[ProfCrash]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Who are you telling? I had my had, gloves, and short north face on while I was walking Cosmo. You know we typically dont get a spring, its winter for 100yrs, then SNEEZE of spring, and then its hot. We were teased by those warm days in April, but BY GOLLY can I put the gloves away???

I had to bust out gloves, a hat, and a blanket for baseball on Saturday and then again on Monday.

[frenchtoast]

13 minutes ago, Marshmallow Mollie said:

I live in the American south and having similar problems with this roller coaster spring. I have a space heater for cold mornings, and every time I get ready to store it for the summer, the weather report shows to keep it out.

I have a few plants I have been shuffling from outside to the garage so they don’t get too cold at night.

A major upside is my hVAC unit is barely running. I love saving money.

I moved to north Texas last year after a lifetime of living in the Northeast. The past few days have been stormy but also delightfully cool. But dang, here I was expecting near 90s because I know I've seen it get that hot here in May but it has been lovely. I have a feeling it's an anomaly but I am loving it--cool, rainy, gray days are my jam.

[MargeGunderson]

I just had to go put on socks (which I hate) because even though it’s sunny here, it’s in the upper 40s. I would really like it to be consistently in the upper 60s. 

It looks like I will be going back to the office part time in July. I have very few office appropriate clothes for the summer. I lost a bunch of weight in the 8 months or so before the pandemic started, and spent last summer in Old Navy t-shirts and shorts. I thought I would enjoy clothes shopping, as I’v moved out of plus sizes and and can in theory shop in wider variety of stores. But I’m still having trouble finding things I like and look good. All I want is to have 7-8 outfits (I’ll only be in 2-3 days a week). 

[GeeGolly]

2 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I just had to go put on socks (which I hate) because even though it’s sunny here, it’s in the upper 40s. I would really like it to be consistently in the upper 60s. 

It looks like I will be going back to the office part time in July. I have very few office appropriate clothes for the summer. I lost a bunch of weight in the 8 months or so before the pandemic started, and spent last summer in Old Navy t-shirts and shorts. I thought I would enjoy clothes shopping, as I’v moved out of plus sizes and and can in theory shop in wider variety of stores. But I’m still having trouble finding things I like and look good. All I want is to have 7-8 outfits (I’ll only be in 2-3 days a week). 

I gained a little weight over the last year. On the few days I've worn both a bra and waisted pants, I thought I would die. It seems I've grownmore  used to leisure-ish clothes, and my pants are a little tighter than they used to be. Ugh.

[MargeGunderson]

3 minutes ago, GeeGolly said:

I gained a little weight over the last year. On the few days I've worn both a bra and waisted pants, I thought I would die. It seems I've grownmore  used to leisure-ish clothes, and my pants are a little tighter than they used to be. Ugh.

I started easing back into real bras (from “comfort” bras) and pants with buttons a couple of months ago. I found it made me feel more like I was at work. I am missing a lot about being in the office, particularly the routine - but not the commute. 

[Scarlett45]

25 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

I just had to go put on socks (which I hate) because even though it’s sunny here, it’s in the upper 40s. I would really like it to be consistently in the upper 60s. 

It looks like I will be going back to the office part time in July. I have very few office appropriate clothes for the summer. I lost a bunch of weight in the 8 months or so before the pandemic started, and spent last summer in Old Navy t-shirts and shorts. I thought I would enjoy clothes shopping, as I’v moved out of plus sizes and and can in theory shop in wider variety of stores. But I’m still having trouble finding things I like and look good. All I want is to have 7-8 outfits (I’ll only be in 2-3 days a week). 

Congrats on your weight loss! That phase when you just move out of plus sizes into straight sizes can be tough depending on your proportions.I find most plus size clothes are much better ratio wise for my body. I love being a 0x- fits just right. LOL. 

 

 I am a straight size in tops and a plus in bottoms still, but my bottoms are much looser- although with these fertility statue hips I have, things just get longer they dont fall off! lol. I have some blouses and capri slacks for RTTO this summer I am sure, I never wore skirts/dresses to work because I was on the train and "ewww" also the AC is intense for me. 

I am staying away from shopping because I do want to lose more weight, and I am taking some dang vacations end of the year and I want to spend money on that. 

[NotthebadVictoria]

Off topic, does anyone know what is happening with Tax refunds? The website says mine was sent to my bank on the 7th and it has yet to be received. Anyone else have this problem?

[Scarlett45]

2 hours ago, NotthebadVictoria said:

Off topic, does anyone know what is happening with Tax refunds? The website says mine was sent to my bank on the 7th and it has yet to be received. Anyone else have this problem?

I filed in Feb, but the 7th was a friday, so its only been two full business days- it should be pending by tomorrow depending on your bank. 

[beckie]

5 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

I filed in Feb, but the 7th was a friday, so its only been two full business days- it should be pending by tomorrow depending on your bank. 

I haven't even received mine yet, and I, too, filed in February.  On the other hand I also got a letter saying I was getting the stimulus check and haven't received that either.

[louannems]

1 hour ago, beckie said:

I haven't even received mine yet, and I, too, filed in February.  On the other hand I also got a letter saying I was getting the stimulus check and haven't received that either.

We filed with TurboTax like always, and we received our refund within days. Maybe closer to 10 days but it was quick.

[iwantcookies]

1 hour ago, beckie said:

I haven't even received mine yet, and I, too, filed in February.  On the other hand I also got a letter saying I was getting the stimulus check and haven't received that either.

If it was a paper check or debit card it could have been stolen or something. Or it was direct deposited in an account you don’t frequently use. You should look into that. 

[Minivanessa]

6 minutes ago, louannems said:

We filed with TurboTax like always, and we received our refund within days. Maybe closer to 10 days but it was quick.

Same here.