Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Scarlett45]

Lady Reese and Cavendish love boxes. 
 

The snow fell all day yesterday, but my area is Chicago didn’t get hit too badly. I will go into the office tomorrow. 

[Minivanessa]

It's a whole 7 degrees (F) here in Denver not long before dawn. Since it was something like minus 10F this time yesterday, I'll take it. I avoided leaving home the last couple of days. It snowed day before yesterday and then we got the super cold temps. Today looks like warming up to a balmy 38F. I have to venture out there this morning for an appointment. I will be brave. 😅

Sadly, the effects of winter storm Landon included a tornado in Alabama with one fatality and some critically injured people. I hope all Small Talkers are safe and warm (and, if it's too hot where you are, that you can stay out of the heat). 

I mentioned recently that I've started watching railcams - live streams of railroad stations and rail yards. The other day, one of them caught a derailment - nobody injured, nothing spilled. I learned about it not long after it happened, and spent the evening with that livestream up on my screen, as the mess of wreckage was removed from the tracks. It was an impressive, professional job. On a bitter cold night in Kansas City. Here's a video that shows the derailment and cleanup. I can't imagine the forces at work; in the derailment you will see a steel railcar pushed way up and its front end shredded like it was made of cardboard or something. I understand that this kind of derailment isn't unusual, and this is minor as those go, but it is amazing that it occurred right in the view of a webcam. [ETA: The first minute or so isn't a direct view of the derailment, but you hear it, and it is shown next. There are two railcams at that location; one caught the front of the train and the other the site of the derailment.]

 

Edited February 4, 2022 by Jeeves

[iwantcookies]

Hi Jill ! This picture is hilarious!

[frenchtoast]

2 hours ago, Jeeves said:

It's a whole 7 degrees (F) here in Denver not long before dawn. Since it was something like minus 10F this time yesterday, I'll take it. I avoided leaving home the last couple of days. It snowed day before yesterday and then we got the super cold temps. Today looks like warming up to a balmy 38F. I have to venture out there this morning for an appointment. I will be brave. 😅

Sadly, the effects of winter storm Landon included a tornado in Alabama with one fatality and some critically injured people. I hope all Small Talkers are safe and warm (and, if it's too hot where you are, that you can stay out of the heat). 

I mentioned recently that I've started watching railcams - live streams of railroad stations and rail yards. The other day, one of them caught a derailment - nobody injured, nothing spilled. I learned about it not long after it happened, and spent the evening with that livestream up on my screen, as the mess of wreckage was removed from the tracks. It was an impressive, professional job. On a bitter cold night in Kansas City. Here's a video that shows the derailment and cleanup. I can't imagine the forces at work; in the derailment you will see a steel railcar pushed way up and its front end shredded like it was made of cardboard or something. I understand that this kind of derailment isn't unusual, and this is minor as those go, but it is amazing that it occurred right in the view of a webcam. [ETA: The first minute or so isn't a direct view of the derailment, but you hear it, and it is shown next. There are two railcams at that location; one caught the front of the train and the other the site of the derailment.]

 

I saw that on the Weather Channel yesterday morning! It's unreal. Had to show my husband who is big into trains. 

[Nysha]

Did it derail because of the weather?

[Minivanessa]

14 hours ago, Nysha said:

Did it derail because of the weather?

No official statement has been made about the cause but I am sure it wasn’t weather. It was  cold but not snowing. Nothing unusual for that area. 

ETA: After I posted this, I saw the derailment video on the Weather Channel. I noticed it had a banner referring to the derailment as happening during a storm. Well, actually, the storm had passed at that place. No snow was falling. The original railcam video (no slow-mo, prior to the cleanup) shows (at about 1:20) a guy clearing snow in a parking lot adjacent to the railroad right of way. I assume TWC goes for a weather angle to a story whenever they can, but that one was a reach, to say the least. 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Jeeves

[Nysha]

Thanks, @Jeeves. I hope the bridge gets inspected for structural integrity after this train derailment. 

[Ohiopirate02]

For all my Northeasr Ohio people,  I was craving some Higbees muffins and had to bake them to go with the chili I was already having for dinner.  They came out a tad overdone, but still delicious.   Now I want my kids meal in the cardboard oven before doing my Christmas shopping at the Twigbee Shop and chatting with Bruce the Talking Spruce.

[Rabbittron]

I swear that my mom is worse than a. 2 year old.  The way she is feeling I know that she should be in the hospital but she is refusing to go. I am about ready to call a ambulance to take her to the hospital. 

[Rootbeer]

2 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

For all my Northeasr Ohio people,  I was craving some Higbees muffins and had to bake them to go with the chili I was already having for dinner.  They came out a tad overdone, but still delicious.   Now I want my kids meal in the cardboard oven before doing my Christmas shopping at the Twigbee Shop and chatting with Bruce the Talking Spruce.

Sometimes, you could get them in the cardboard Higbee's delivery truck at the Silver Grille,  instead of the oven.  I was just looking at the Higbee muffin recipe this afternoon, thinking I should bake some.  

Loved the Twigbee shoppe and the train to visit Santa at the downtown store which also had the best Christmas windows anywhere.  Of course, we always had to go over to Halle's to get our key from Mr Jingaling, too.

For those of you not from Cleveland, if you've seen A Christmas Story, you've seen Higbee's windows.  The movie was partly filmed here and they were retro decorated complete with Red Ryder BB gun for the Christmas parade scene.

[crazycatlady58]

Is anyone watching the Olympics?

[Cinnabon]

5 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

Is anyone watching the Olympics?

Yes! I love the ice skating, it’s amazing. No interest in anything else. Curling makes no sense to me, lol 

[crazycatlady58]

1 minute ago, Cinnabon said:

Yes! I love the ice skating, it’s amazing. No interest in anything else. Curling makes no sense to me, lol 

I enjoy watching curling. I think of it as shuffleboard on ice. The ice skating is fantastic. I just watched the young  lady fron the ROC and she was fantastic! So grateful.  I watch it all except for hockey.  I do not care for sports  but always watch the Olympics. 

[Cinnabon]

12 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I enjoy watching curling. I think of it as shuffleboard on ice. The ice skating is fantastic. I just watched the young  lady fron the ROC and she was fantastic! So grateful.  I watch it all except for hockey.  I do not care for sports  but always watch the Olympics. 

Maybe I need to give curling another chance, but it just seemed like someone trying to wash a window or something. 🤣 I may watch some skiing.

[Rootbeer]

33 minutes ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I enjoy watching curling. I think of it as shuffleboard on ice. The ice skating is fantastic. I just watched the young  lady fron the ROC and she was fantastic! So grateful.  I watch it all except for hockey.  I do not care for sports  but always watch the Olympics. 

The young lady from Russia, Kamila Valieva, is head and shoulders the best ladies' skater in the world.  She's got the jumps and the grace.  She doesn't seem to be able to bring the emotion like Michelle Kwan and others could; but she is the best of the best these days.  Hated her purple skating dress though, the length was awkward. 

As far as curling goes, there is often some very nice scenery:

This is Oskar.  He's my Swedish Olympic boyfriend

[Love2dance]

I love all the ice skating and also some of the snowboard and ski competitions. I’m so glad they are having the Olympics for all the athletes that have worked so hard for so many years.

[ChiCricket]

5 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

The young lady from Russia, Kamila Valieva, is head and shoulders the best ladies' skater in the world.  She's got the jumps and the grace.  She doesn't seem to be able to bring the emotion like Michelle Kwan and others could; but she is the best of the best these days.  Hated her purple skating dress though, the length was awkward. 

As far as curling goes, there is often some very nice scenery:

This is Oskar.  He's my Swedish Olympic boyfriend

I was watching a little bit of curling today, and all I could think was how come the players don't fall right on their butts on the ice with those shoes! 🙃

[crazycatlady58]

4 hours ago, ChiCricket said:

I was watching a little bit of curling today, and all I could think was how come the players don't fall right on their butts on the ice with those shoes! 🙃

I have negative athletic ability and always thought curling was one sport I would have a tiny chance of participating and at least being useful to the team but never at the Olympic level. 

10 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

The young lady from Russia, Kamila Valieva, is head and shoulders the best ladies' skater in the world.  She's got the jumps and the grace.  She doesn't seem to be able to bring the emotion like Michelle Kwan and others could; but she is the best of the best these days.  Hated her purple skating dress though, the length was awkward. 

As far as curling goes, there is often some very nice scenery:

This is Oskar.  He's my Swedish Olympic boyfriend

She was fantastic. I wanted to tell the commentators.." Y'all hush now."

[Cinnabon]

1 minute ago, crazycatlady58 said:

I have negative athletic ability and always thought curling was one sport I would have a tiny chance of participating and at least being useful to the team but never at the Olympic level. 

My Olympic sport would have been step aerobics back in the day (if that were a thing😆). I would love to just be able to ice skate around the rink looking as elegant and beautiful as the Olympic skaters. It’s amazing.

[Love2dance]

One of the programs I was watching showed the curlers use special shoes so they won’t skip and fall.

[crazy8s]

my favorite announcer comment so far was during the opening ceremony. some team with one team member and the commentator says "he was chosen to carry his country's flag"  i just laughed at that one.  there were no other options

[iwantcookies]

I’m in need of help to stop following the Rodrigues family circus/tragedy… 

 

 

[ginger90]

6 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

I’m in need of help to stop following the Rodrigues family circus/tragedy… 

 

 

Unfollow on Instagram and say something she’ll perceive as persecution on her Facebook. Problem solved!!

[iwantcookies]

Good news Sunday anyone?

[BetyBee]

48 minutes ago, iwantcookies said:

I’m in need of help to stop following the Rodrigues family circus/tragedy… 

No you don't! If you stop mocking the Rods, I'll miss out on seeing your funny posts. And like Jill, it's all about me!

[Nysha]

3 hours ago, crazy8s said:

my favorite announcer comment so far was during the opening ceremony. some team with one team member and the commentator says "he was chosen to carry his country's flag"  i just laughed at that one.  there were no other options

Finally! This is, too, an I in team. 😁😁

Also, my good news is I slept until my Bipap machine ran out of water and it was full when I went to bed! This hasn't happened in months and means I was able to breathe deeply while sleeping. 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Nysha
Good News Sunday!

[Scarlett45]

17 hours ago, Rootbeer said:

The young lady from Russia, Kamila Valieva, is head and shoulders the best ladies' skater in the world.  She's got the jumps and the grace.  She doesn't seem to be able to bring the emotion like Michelle Kwan and others could; but she is the best of the best these days.  Hated her purple skating dress though, the length was awkward. 

As far as curling goes, there is often some very nice scenery:

This is Oskar.  He's my Swedish Olympic boyfriend

He’s pretty attractive. I don’t care for facial hair but he looks really nice with it. Hello Oskar!

 

 

I shared this in the Pet thread but here are some more photos of the cats enjoying their tree. 

[iwantcookies]

38 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

No you don't! If you stop mocking the Rods, I'll miss out on seeing your funny posts. And like Jill, it's all about me!

Thank you 😊!

[jcbrown]

7 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I shared this in the Pet thread but here are some more photos of the cats enjoying their tree. 

I'm not showing this to my girls because they will be jealous of that tree!

Edited February 7, 2022 by jcbrown

[Mindthinkr]

7 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

Good news Sunday anyone?

Yes, I had dinner with my brother and his wife. He turns 81 tomorrow and has been the best big brother I could ever ask for (when we are not fighting 😂). I have lost both of my parents and my sister so I’m grateful that he is still here. Since my family is so small I am lucky to have him in my life. 

[Mindthinkr]

7 hours ago, Nysha said:

Finally! This is, too, an I in team. 😁😁

[skatelady]

On 2/5/2022 at 10:07 PM, crazycatlady58 said:

I enjoy watching curling. I think of it as shuffleboard on ice. The ice skating is fantastic. I just watched the young  lady fron the ROC and she was fantastic! So grateful.  I watch it all except for hockey.  I do not care for sports  but always watch the Olympics. 

The ONLY thing I watch is hockey! So if we blended into a single person, we'd be the perfect Olympic consumer!

[crazycatlady58]

2 minutes ago, skatelady said:

The ONLY thing I watch is hockey! So if we blended into a single person, we'd be the perfect Olympic consumer!

True!

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, jcbrown said:

I'm not showing this to my girls because they will be jealous of that tree!

Youre so sweet! Cat trees are way less expensive than they used to be. I remember when we adopted Scarlett and Mr Norris (my profile photo) in 2003, the tall cat trees were $200-300 and my Mom went "no, they can look out the window", the one I just bought was only $90 and it is 72 inches tall. Might be like how TVs are pretty cheap now.

[Scarlett45]

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Yes, I had dinner with my brother and his wife. He turns 81 tomorrow and has been the best big brother I could ever ask for (when we are not fighting 😂). I have lost both of my parents and my sister so I’m grateful that he is still here. Since my family is so small I am lucky to have him in my life. 

How lovely you had dinner with your brother. So nice to spend time with loved ones, especially to celebrate his birthday.

[CalicoKitty]

It is a nice sunny day today, and Flora and Lilly decided to take advantage of the sun.  They don't have a nice cat tree (like a couple of other lucky cats we know), so they make do with window sills.  

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, CalicoKitty said:

It is a nice sunny day today, and Flora and Lilly decided to take advantage of the sun.  They don't have a nice cat tree (like a couple of other lucky cats we know), so they make do with window sills.  

They look so pleased!

[Rabbittron]

Well I am doing the happy dance my mom called an ambulance and just got admitted to the hospital. 

[MargeGunderson]

41 minutes ago, Rabbittron said:

Well I am doing the happy dance my mom called an ambulance and just got admitted to the hospital. 

I hope this means she will get the care that she needs, and improves soon.

[Rabbittron]

My mom's regular hospital was on diversion so they sent her to a different one . The one she's at is closer to the federal prison and she kept saying Smuggar how come you aren't here yet?

[Rabbittron]

Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong. She has no signs of internal bleeding but  she is 1 quart low on blood. 

[Rabbittron]

She went through many tests and they found no bleeding.  They are now thinking that because her body rejects iron her body is getting rid of the blood somehow. 

[Cinnabon]

1 hour ago, Rabbittron said:

She went through many tests and they found no bleeding.  They are now thinking that because her body rejects iron her body is getting rid of the blood somehow. 

A similar situation happened to me about 5 years ago. My hemoglobin was so low that I turned white (lips and all), and I was having heart palpitations whenever I did more than sit (severe anemia). They admitted me to the hospital and gave me a blood transfusion, and I felt great again. But afterward they did many different tests, including having me swallow a tiny camera to try and find out where the internal bleeding had come from and they never found a specific source. But I’ve been fine since. I hope your mom feels better and gets to come home soon! 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Cinnabon

[Mindthinkr]

Here’s what happened in my grocery store today: 

Tha lady in front of me couldn’t get her card to work. As it wasn’t working she said that it was new so she didn’t have her PIN number yet. The cashier told her there was nothing she could do. The lady replied “Well can’t I at least buy my lunch?” I was behind her and asked what it cost and the cashier told me $6, so I said that I would buy it for her. She then said to me “But I wanted $20 cash back” and I replied that I was sorry, but could not help her with that. She then turned on her heel and left in a huff.  No thank you. Both the cashier’s and my jaws dropped. The cashier stated that so many in my area feel entitled, but thanked me for my kindness. I’ve been considering why her card didn’t work. Perhaps it was stolen. I know with my debit card that I can run it as credit as long as I don’t want cash back. She could have stopped the cash back option and then maybe it would have run as credit for her lunch. The cashier stated that not all debit cards work that way. I don’t know if I did a good deed or enabled a criminal. 

[Nysha]

@Mindthinkr, your offer was meant in kindness, so you did a good thing. If she is using a stolen card, which I suspect is the case since she wanted cash more than her lunch, she didn't get to use it. So, it all happened for the good.

[BetyBee]

I remember once I was at the camera counter in our local grocery store. A young man was trying to buy a bunch of stuff for a newborn baby (formula, diapers etc.) He didn't have enough money. I walked up just as he was trying to figure out which items he could afford. We didn't have much $ to spare in those days, but oh how I wish I'd done what you did @Mindthinkr! I have always regretted that it didn't occur to me to pay for his stuff! It really bothers me that I didn't even think of it until later! You're good people, Mindthinkr!

Another time when I was getting gas, I was approached by a young couple asking for cash. They claimed that the husband's wallet had been stolen. I offered to call the police for them, to report the crime. They left immediately. Now those 2 were clearly scammers. I probably would have given them some money if they didn't make up the story about the stolen wallet!

I just finished a pretty good book, The Diary of a Bookseller. I love my book club. I never would have thought of reading that book. Now I want to read the author's other 2 books!

[Mindthinkr]

5 minutes ago, BetyBee said:

You're good people, Mindthinkr!

 

I think all of us here in the Prayer Closet are good people 

[whydoiwatch]

In case anyone has had similar problem with this website and resolved:

When I open thread on this website the page doesn't load completely or it seems to load but I cannot click on the page link. For example, I am unable to click on a page link under say the Smuggars thread. This is the only website where this happens. If I refresh page, then usually I can open a specific page. I use a MacBook and Safari is the browser I use.

Thank you.

[emmawoodhouse]

3 hours ago, whydoiwatch said:

In case anyone has had similar problem with this website and resolved:

When I open thread on this website the page doesn't load completely or it seems to load but I cannot click on the page link. For example, I am unable to click on a page link under say the Smuggars thread. This is the only website where this happens. If I refresh page, then usually I can open a specific page. I use a MacBook and Safari is the browser I use.

Thank you.

Try the Bugs forum. They'll want all the info you posted here. 🙂

[jcbrown]

I think you tried to do a good thing, @Mindthinkr. 

It reminds me of when we lived in San Francisco and there was a very well-dressed very polite young man who approached me, saying he needed bus fare to get to a job interview and could I possibly spare it. I don't usually listen to these pitches but something about him seemed real. I gave him a couple bucks or whatever he asked for. Next week or so, same guy, again well-dressed and polite, approaches me with the same story. Seriously, dude?