Small Talk: The Prayer Closet

[Minivanessa]

@CalicoKitty, I hope you're recovered or are recovering well, from that procedure. 

I've been enjoying a few more photo meetups lately. Went out to photograph in a branch of our botanic gardens. It's still early in the growing/flowering season here, but the iris are out. I can't count how many times I've gone out with a group to photograph iris at various places. And finally I've confessed: I'm not fond of them. I find them hard to photograph and instead of being intrigued and challenged by them, I'm just "meh." At the same time, I just love viewing spectacularly good and interesting images of iris captured by other photogs, so go figure.

I got a couple of good shots so I'll share them here. I like converting flower/plant images to black and white, which can reveal interesting lines and textures that may not be noticed when color is also present. Sometimes leaves look like leather in B&W!

Tomorrow I start another pet and house sitting gig, this one for nine days. I've been there before. Two sweet smallish terriers and a super-friendly Russian blue cat. All boyz. All prone to piling into my lap (at once) when I sit down. Lovely big home with all the modern conveniences. Life could be worse!

@beckie - again, I'm thinking of you and hoping you're finding support and comfort in this very sad time for you.

And the pics:

 

Edited May 23 by Jeeves
grammar

[sixlets]

@Jeeves, your photos are gorgeous!  Enjoy your pet sitting!

 

P.S. I hope all of you folks in the Midwest are safe tonight.  

[Love2dance]

@Jeeves, beautiful pictures! Enjoy your house sitting. 🐾🐈🐶

[BetyBee]

I had my annual mammogram yesterday. Today the Breast Center called to say that I have a mass in my right breast and I'm scheduled for further examination in mid June. There's been no breast cancer in my family thus far, though there has been a variety of other cancers. It's hard not to imagine the most horrible diagnosis, though I have looked online and it seems that 60-80% of masses are benign.

I did have thyroid cancer at 21, which was likely from radiation I received as an infant for an enlarged thymus gland. I don't know. It's scary. It's really been a rough year so far. After Mom passed, my two remaining sisters have kind of distanced themselves. It's complicated. I'm closer to 2 of my brothers, but I don't want to talk about this to them at this point! Thankfully I have a wonderful husband and several good girlfriends, plus my kids. I will know for certain after the tests in mid June. Hopefully it will be good news. 

[realityfan26]

@BetyBee I hope your further testing reveals just a benign spot. 

[zoomama]

i have had to do the 'further testing' and it was all benign. that didn't really make up for the worrying i did although of course it was a relief. when i did my further work-up, they told me that very day that i was fine. i hope you will have the same experience.

[Minivanessa]

@BetyBee, that's so worrying. I hope it turns out to be benign. 

[BetyBee]

12 hours ago, zoomama said:

i have had to do the 'further testing' and it was all benign. that didn't really make up for the worrying i did although of course it was a relief. when i did my further work-up, they told me that very day that i was fine. i hope you will have the same experience.

@zoomama - I'm glad that was your experience and I hope mine is the same. They did say that I will find out at my appointment, so thankfully no more waiting/worrying after that if all goes well!

[Mindthinkr]

@BetyBee Best wishes. I pray that it’s benign and nothing more than this little bit of further testing. Thank goodness you get the results right then. Waiting and managing fears is hard. I’m glad that you have a supportive husband and good girlfriends. I hope that at some point you can mend whatever is going on between you and your female siblings. 

[oliviabenson]

21 hours ago, BetyBee said:

I had my annual mammogram yesterday. Today the Breast Center called to say that I have a mass in my right breast and I'm scheduled for further examination in mid June. There's been no breast cancer in my family thus far, though there has been a variety of other cancers. It's hard not to imagine the most horrible diagnosis, though I have looked online and it seems that 60-80% of masses are benign.

I did have thyroid cancer at 21, which was likely from radiation I received as an infant for an enlarged thymus gland. I don't know. It's scary. It's really been a rough year so far. After Mom passed, my two remaining sisters have kind of distanced themselves. It's complicated. I'm closer to 2 of my brothers, but I don't want to talk about this to them at this point! Thankfully I have a wonderful husband and several good girlfriends, plus my kids. I will know for certain after the tests in mid June. Hopefully it will be good news. 

Sending you best wishes! You are a very sweet person!

[Minivanessa]

My pet sitting gig is going well. Sweet fur kids. 

In other news, sh*t got real. Thursday night a big tornadic storm blew up and lingered in the area of OK where I have a LOT of cousins. There were twisters which, amazingly, didn't hit any of the towns. But, sadly, one of my young cousins and her family lost all their possessions when a twister hit their house - out in the country. Thank God, the house had a safe room, they were all in it, and nobody was hurt. However, the garage collapsed on and demolished both their vehicles, and the house is totaled. It's not all reduced to toothpicks, and it's recognizable as a wrecked house, but it's an ugly sight. Everything inside that wasn't trashed by the wind, was drenched by the rain as the roof was ripped. My cousin and her family are insured, and are being helped and supported by their families, friends, and community. They'll be okay in the long run, but it's an awful thing to have happened. Sigh.

In other weather news, NW Arkansas was hit overnight by deadly tornadoes. I've been in touch with @Zella - who lives in NW Arkansas (though not in Rogers). The storm gave her home a glancing blow, but nothing ruinous. They have lost electric power - widespread in the area. She gave me permission to tell you she's okay, but not using the internet except to check the power company's outage map. Understandably. 

Edited May 26 by Jeeves

[realityfan26]

@Jeeves I'm glad your family is ok. How scary! The weather lately has been crazy.

Thanks also for the update on @Zella; glad its not worse!

[Mindthinkr]

27 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

My pet sitting gig is going well. Sweet fur kids. 

In other news, sh*t got real. Thursday night a big tornadic storm blew up and lingered in the area of OK where I have a LOT of cousins. There were twisters which, amazingly, didn't hit any of the towns. But, sadly, one of my young cousins and her family lost all their possessions when a twister hit their house - out in the country. Thank God, the house had a safe room, they were all in it, and nobody was hurt. However, the garage collapsed on and demolished both their vehicles, and the house is totaled. It's not all reduced to toothpicks, and it's recognizable as a wrecked house, but it's an ugly sight. Everything inside that wasn't trashed by the wind, was drenched by the rain as the roof was ripped. My cousin and her family are insured, and are being helped and supported by their families, friends, and community. They'll be okay in the long run, but it's an awful thing to have happened. Sigh.

In other weather news, NW Arkansas was hit overnight by deadly tornadoes. I've been in touch with @Zella - who lives in NW Arkansas (though not in Rogers). The storm gave her home a glancing blow, but nothing ruinous. They have lost electric power - widespread in the area. She gave me permission to tell you she's okay, but not using the internet except to check the power company's outage map. Understandably. 

Thank goodness they had a safe room. Seems like something everyone in tornado prone areas should have. I’m grateful they are all ok. 
I appreciate the report on @Zella  and hope her power gets restored soon. 

[Zella]

My power is back on. Thanks for the well-wishes and also thanks for passing on the update for me @Jeeves! It was really scary, but I was also very lucky. Rogers and Benton County got hit hard with 3 tornadoes. :(

Edited May 26 by Zella

[Minivanessa]

Nice to see you here again, @Zella!

I mentioned above that my young cousin and her family lost their [rented] house and all their possessions in a tornado Thursday night, although they were in a safe room when it hit and nobody was injured. She put this up on Facebook yesterday:

Quote

We don’t even know where to begin. We would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers, donations,support, and help. We are so thankful that we have a community, family, friends, our [son's sports team] family, and communities surrounding us. We are so lucky to have made it out alive. I told someone the other day the things we have lost are just material and can be replaced, but our lives can’t and for that we are thankful that God had his arms around us. We are being asked what we are needing at this time, and we are working on getting that together. At this time we are at a stand still waiting on adjusters.

Ah, insurance adjusters. I can't imagine dealing with them when you're claiming pretty much everything. Yikes. In the meantime their immediate needs are being met. 

[Notabug]

4 hours ago, Jeeves said:

Nice to see you here again, @Zella!

I mentioned above that my young cousin and her family lost their [rented] house and all their possessions in a tornado Thursday night, although they were in a safe room when it hit and nobody was injured. She put this up on Facebook yesterday:

Ah, insurance adjusters. I can't imagine dealing with them when you're claiming pretty much everything. Yikes. In the meantime their immediate needs are being met. 

Glad they're all ok.  My cousin lost everything in Katrina and had a helluva time with FEMA and the insurance companies.  However, he is an attorney as well as genetically blessed with the Polish stubborness of our clan and he fought to get his life back.  They lived in a FEMA trailer for a couple of years, but their house got rebuilt, better than ever.  His wife even jokes that she's grateful for the hurricane as it led to the kitchen remodel of her dreams.  She still gets teary talking about the photos and family stuff including her grandmother's dining room set that they lost.

[zoomama]

it has solidified my thoughts about moving to texas...i think that's a no-go for sure. my weekend there in april during this season of storms was enough to make me rethink all those ideas. it was really stressful to be on guard all the time. its enough for me to keep up with the weather there and worry about my grandkids from out here in 'safe' cali (use that term loosely). to literally live that way every minute, nope.

[GeeGolly]

My heart goes out to all dealing with the devastation the weather has brought. I can speak from personal experience it is no fun. Never mind finding a roof over your head, but things like toothbrushes, medication, documents are gone too. Fortunately our insurance company was on the ball. We finally were settled about a year after. The trauma of living through it never leaves though.

Hugs to weather survivors and to all PT posters.

[oliviabenson]

 

Thought of Phillip 

[emma675]

5 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

My heart goes out to all dealing with the devastation the weather has brought. I can speak from personal experience it is no fun. Never mind finding a roof over your head, but things like toothbrushes, medication, documents are gone too. Fortunately our insurance company was on the ball. We finally were settled about a year after. The trauma of living through it never leaves though.

Hugs to weather survivors and to all PT posters.

It's been rough here in Dallas. Half of my neighborhood still hasn't had power since Tuesday morning when the storm blew through. And there were thunderstorms all day today so the linemen can't work until it passes. I'm actually looking forward to August when it's hot and dry for weeks on end.

And I've learned about 90% of the population here doesn't understand how four way stops and flashing red traffic lights work.

[SunnyBeBe]

On 5/27/2024 at 2:20 PM, zoomama said:

it has solidified my thoughts about moving to texas...i think that's a no-go for sure. my weekend there in april during this season of storms was enough to make me rethink all those ideas. it was really stressful to be on guard all the time. its enough for me to keep up with the weather there and worry about my grandkids from out here in 'safe' cali (use that term loosely). to literally live that way every minute, nope.

I can relate.  I grew up in NC and we have very scary weather.  It’s quite unnerving and I’ve considered relocating due to it.  Every summer it’s weekly if not daily storm, flood or tornado watch/warnings.  And, it seems to be increasing in frequency and intensity.  

[GeeGolly]

Is this site slow for anyone else, or just me?

[Absolom]

It takes 2 to 3 times as long to load as a similar site I also visit.

[Salacious Kitty]

Seems okay now. But yeah, it's been intermittent since Sunday. The mods are aware of the issue.

Edited June 4 by Salacious Kitty

[CalicoKitty]

The site was running great last night, and now it is so slow it sometimes does not come up.  I hope they get this fixed soon.

[Fosca]

I don't have issues once I'm into the site, but loading the forums home page takes forever at best or else doesn't load at all.

[GeeGolly]

29 minutes ago, Fosca said:

I don't have issues once I'm into the site, but loading the forums home page takes forever at best or else doesn't load at all.

I have both - slow to load and slow once I'm here.

 

[Salacious Kitty]

Seems to be okay now. The tach guy noticed that it does this late morning/early afternoon each day. He is looking into it. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I think it’s ok to include this topic here. If anyone has any tips about it I’d appreciate.  It’s about Facebook and private FB websites, (not the one here).  if the website says private, so you can’t view anything on it without joining, (they ask you questions and then accept you or not).  You can’t see any post at all.  So, will the posts a person who post there be available for any other Facebook account members or just those who apply to the private site?  Does the fact I frequent that site show on my FB page?  
 

I want it to be very private and that’s all I’ll say about it. I won’t use it for any other reason than joining the site. I once got a FB account for a different site. Though my name didn’t appear when I post there, and I didn’t utilize the FB account in any other way, it was visible and that website was associated with me. When I discovered this, I permanently deleted the FB account.  I would like to avoid that again.  I’ve read about Privacy Settings I can employ, but am still cautious.  Any tips or input would be appreciated. 
 

Note: The site I am referring to is perfectly legal and is regarding medical information.  

[Absolom]

When in doubt use a fake name.  

[SunnyBeBe]

11 minutes ago, Absolom said:

When in doubt use a fake name.  

I didn’t realize that was an option.  

[Absolom]

Facebook says you should use your real name, but I only do that on my account for family.  For general "people on the internet" I use a totally fake name and FB has never noticed.  All the info on that account is made up.  

[Salacious Kitty]

58 minutes ago, Absolom said:

Facebook says you should use your real name, but I only do that on my account for family.  For general "people on the internet" I use a totally fake name and FB has never noticed.  All the info on that account is made up.  

Facebook zapped my sock account maybe 10 years ago, but I admit that the name I chose was not one used in real life. It was clearly a sock account.😀

[Absolom]

They did a clean up and caught my name from when FB began and had bought whatever chat site I was on that they converted.  It, too, was obviously not a real person name.  However, they don't notice if it's something someone might possibly be named.  

[Salacious Kitty]

15 minutes ago, Absolom said:

They did a clean up and caught my name from when FB began and had bought whatever chat site I was on that they converted.  It, too, was obviously not a real person name.  However, they don't notice if it's something someone might possibly be named.  

Mine was an old username from TWOP. 😂

[sixlets]

If you want to keep it anonymous, try using a middle name and a family member's maiden name.  I use a fake name for a TON of sites, but I've always made sure it was a legit name that someone could have.  And, play around with the spelling if you can.  Hypothetically, if your name is Deborah, you could change it to Debbie or Debby, and it would still make sense.

[SunnyBeBe]

1 hour ago, sixlets said:

If you want to keep it anonymous, try using a middle name and a family member's maiden name.  I use a fake name for a TON of sites, but I've always made sure it was a legit name that someone could have.  And, play around with the spelling if you can.  Hypothetically, if your name is Deborah, you could change it to Debbie or Debby, and it would still make sense.

Omg, you’re good!  🤫😉. Hypothetically, you say. Ha!  

[SunnyBeBe]

So, who goes to see anything associated with “Dianna Twain”if it’s an unwanted, silent account?  What appears there?  Does anything associated with that med website  that she posts on as a private member appear on the FB page?……………..

Well, what if the old account that was completely, permanently deleted months ago, still exist and is all over that old site that I abandoned!  Furious is not strong enough to describe my reaction. Oh well…….at this point, it’s a big *U.  I’m done with it.  I’m stuck with an old permanently deleted account.  Ugh….

Edited June 9 by SunnyBeBe

[Minivanessa]

2 hours ago, sixlets said:

If you want to keep it anonymous, try using a middle name and a family member's maiden name.  I use a fake name for a TON of sites, but I've always made sure it was a legit name that someone could have.  And, play around with the spelling if you can.  Hypothetically, if your name is Deborah, you could change it to Debbie or Debby, and it would still make sense.

One of my relatives uses his real first name and the name of the state he lives in, as his last name, on FB. He doesn't post very often but it is an active account. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I think at this point, my issue is that I have an account that FB won’t delete.  I purposefully deleted it permanently months ago and it still exits!  I’m furious,  

[Mindthinkr]

3 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think at this point, my issue is that I have an account that FB won’t delete.  I purposefully deleted it permanently months ago and it still exits!  I’m furious,  

I would be too. That is unacceptable. 

[SunnyBeBe]

51 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I would be too. That is unacceptable. 

I’ll address it again, but later when I have more time. 

[BetyBee]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think at this point, my issue is that I have an account that FB won’t delete.  I purposefully deleted it permanently months ago and it still exits!  I’m furious,  

That is horrifying! I'm planning to delete my FB account soon and I am horrified to learn that this can happen! I know from reporting bad accounts and actions, that FB doesn't care.

[Mindthinkr]

I’m so glad that I have never gone on FB. 
it’s just this kind of stuff that horrifies me. 
Best Wishes on getting it scrubbed @SunnyBeBe

[Absolom]

5 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I think at this point, my issue is that I have an account that FB won’t delete.  I purposefully deleted it permanently months ago and it still exits!  I’m furious,  

You're right deletion doesn't remove everything.

Quote

Some information, such as messaging history, isn't stored in your account. This means friends may still have access to messages you sent after your account has been deleted.

Copies of some material (example: log records) may remain in our database but are disassociated from personal identifiers.

Also make sure you clicked deletion not deactivation where more info will remain visible.

Edited June 10 by Absolom

[oliviabenson]

I once left a negative review for a doctor I went to. It was supposed to be anonymous. Well it wasn’t… he emailed me asking why I left a negative review and in the email explained my medical issues… at least I got good answers on why I was having problems!

I never went back to the doctor out of pure embarrassment… 

 

Now I don’t leave any reviews anywhere, nothing is anonymous.

[Minivanessa]

Interesting information there about getting off Facebook and trying to get the account closed. Hmm . . .

It was quite the time sink when I started, but I've gone back through my FB timeline and deleted posts and even photo albums that are more than a few months old. I don't have my privacy settings locked down as tightly as possible although most of my posts are "friends and friends of friends" level vs public. I think the system now sends your deleted stuff to the "trash" where it's not really gone for another 30 days. I've left some older non-personal posts that I like to re-post such as a Memorial Day picture/comment that's become an annual habit for me. 

Maybe that's a waste of time, but I'd rather not have a load of posts sitting on FB that go back 15 years. I prefer a lighter footprint there. Come to think of it, it's about time for me to scroll down to the oldest thing in my timeline and send some more things to the trash. And, I need to write up some instructions for my family in case I'm still on FB when I kick the bucket (not that I'm sick, nobody panic!). I want my account shut down when I'm gone. I swear, FB still reminds me when it's "Tom Smith's" birthday - and "Tom Smith" is a former colleague who died a decade ago. Creeepy!!

Edited June 10 by Jeeves

[ginger90]

15 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I once left a negative review for a doctor I went to. It was supposed to be anonymous. Well it wasn’t… he emailed me asking why I left a negative review and in the email explained my medical issues… at least I got good answers on why I was having problems!

I never went back to the doctor out of pure embarrassment… 

 

Now I don’t leave any reviews anywhere, nothing is anonymous.

As you already found out, if you post anonymously, your name and profile picture will still be visible to the group's admins and moderators, as well as to Facebook.

[oliviabenson]

What happens to all your SM accounts when you die??? 

[BetyBee]

9 minutes ago, Jeeves said:

Interesting information there about getting off Facebook and trying to get the account closed. Hmm . . .

It was quite the time sink when I started, but I've gone back through my FB timeline and deleted posts and even photo albums that are more than a few months old. I don't have my privacy settings locked down as tightly as possible although most of my posts are "friends and friends of friends" level vs public. I think the system now sends your deleted stuff to the "trash" where it's not really gone for another 30 days. I've left some older non-personal posts that I like to re-post such as a Memorial Day picture/comment that's become an annual habit for me. 

Maybe that's a waste of time, but I'd rather not have a load of posts sitting on FB that go back 15 years. I prefer a lighter footprint there. Come to think of it, it's about time for me to scroll down to the oldest thing in my timeline and send some more things to the trash. And, I need to write up some instructions for my family in case I'm still on FB when I kick the bucket (not that I'm sick, nobody panic!). I want my account shut down when I'm gone. I swear, FB still reminds me when it's "Tom Smith's" birthday - and "Tom Smith" is a former colleague who died a decade ago. Creeepy!!

My son-in-law scrubs his FB regularly. I wish I had done that years ago. I did download all of my pics and then made every album for my eyes only. I stopped posting pics of my grandkids years ago. I let them make their own footprint in the world! I get birthday notifications for several friends and relatives who have died. I gave my husband legacy rights and told him to let people post condolences and then shut it down a month or so after I'm gone! However, I think I'm going to shut it down myself after my Mom's estate is settled. I'm done with 1/3 of my siblings anyway. I do kind of like the memories that come up on FB, especially when they include comments from loved ones who have passed. As time goes by, they are just reminders of happier days.

I do think that FB is especially harmful in general. I liked the internet better when it was mostly anonymous. I've interacted with interesting people on various forums where I've posted. The problem with FB is that everyone knows exactly who everyone else is and what they think about every little thing!