ByKate Antoniades Hours Updated
Comments 74 Comments

Coffee Break: 6-Sound White Noise Machine

I originally bought this white noise machine for my son, but it would work well for someone of any age who has sleep problems. It could also be helpful if you're having trouble concentrating while working from home, especially if you have a spouse or partner who has a lot of video calls for work.

(If you don't want to hear white noise right where you're working, you could close the door of the room they're in and place this in the hall outside the door, therapist style.) 

This has six sounds — rain, brook, thunder, white noise, ocean, and summer night — and the volume controls have a pretty wide range. It also has a sleep timer with 15-, 30-, and 60-minute options. We keep it plugged in, but you can also run it off of three AA batteries.

As for longevity, we've had one of these for 2.5 years and it's as good as new (even after being dropped a few times on a hardwood floor).

The white noise machine is $19.99 at Amazon and eligible for Prime. 6-Sound White Noise Machine

This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

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74 Comments

  1. I’m curious about how businesses and organizations are handling annual meetings and events moving forward. Have your workplaces and groups canceled events altogether? Planning virtual versions? Postponing? When would you personally feel comfortable going to that type of event?

    I normally plan a big all-weekend event for an affinity bar association. We canceled the 2020 event. I’m trying to decide if we should just plan a virtual one for 2021 instead of wasting our efforts in planning an in-person one.

    1. I have no idea what official policy is for my giant global company for events that far out (hard pass on anything near term, including regional travel), but we usually have a save the date for our end of February annual conference by now and we have not yet received it. I’m not holding my breath that they will be hosting it next year. Honestly, I think it would be super tone deaf of them to send right now anyway so I don’t know if the absence of the STD email means we’re not having it or they’re just sitting on it, but either way I’m glad I haven’t seen it.

    2. I think a virtual one would be appreciated. It’s difficult to have so many uncertainties, and it would be nice to know I could participate in something without having to worry about what the state of the world will be then or how to balance obligations & safety, etc.

    3. I doubt I’ll feel comfortable going to any large work events until much later on, probably late 2021 or 2022. Conferences and work events that can largely be done remotely feel extra pointless to me – if I’m going to take extra risks, I at least want to see family, friends, or take a vacation, things that are all beneficial to my mental and physical health. I also think this is a golden opportunity to pivot to virtual events for environmental and inclusivity reasons.

    5. Our annual event was supposed to be March 11th. It was cancelled the week before – the last time I had a place at it I didn’t go because my grandad died the day before. Starting to think the universe just doesn’t want me there.

      I’d be more comfortable planning something next autumn than next spring.

    6. My husband has in-person conferences going forward as early as next month but these are small (<50 people) events and those who don’t want to attend don’t have to. Most people seem enthusiastic about it though.

    7. We’ve canceled all of our fall 2020 events, including a statewide conference and an all-staff meeting. We may have smaller meetings or virtual gatherings but that’s not clear yet.

  2. Has anyone cancelled an Airbnb due to Covid travel disruptions? We have a stay booked in Europe this September, and our flight home just got cancelled. Obviously the writing is on the wall for the entire trip. We booked the travel before March 14 (the magic date for extenuating circumstances), but Airbnb is only making exceptions at this point for travel through June 30. (They said “check back June 1 for an update” but… crickets.)

    Anyone have success getting a refund for travel further out at this point? Or do we just wait it out? (You’d think the host would rather release the property sooner in the hopes of attracting European tourists but they just told us to take it up with Airbnb.)

    1. I’m in the same boat. I haven’t contacted the host yet. Curious to hear from others.

    2. Wait it out to get a full refund. Otherwise prepare for battle with your host + Airbnb (I speak from experience)

      1. Thanks guys. I messaged Airbnb support (saying we are concerned given flight cancellations, interested in cancelling if we can receive a full refund, but also saying if we can’t, we will keep the reservation and wait hoping that travel is feasible). And then assume we’ll wait it out. Le sigh. At least one of our two Airbnbs has 100% cancellation until August, this was the cheaper one, and we can get the cash back for the flights because of the cancellation.

    4. It’s late but in case you’re still checking, I went down to the wire with my AirBNB cancellation (5/29 when 5/31 was the cutoff ) in order to fall within their guidelines (country kept extending the border closure). Once I submitted it, I had the full amount back in my paypal account within 8 hours so I felt like they had it pretty well run.

      1. Thanks – OP here. I’ve played the waiting game and won with 3 airline reservations so have no issue doing it with Airbnb. I don’t want to be penalized for being proactive so made it clear in my chat message that if I couldn’t cancel now with a refund, I would wait & keep the res.

  3. I need to get some Queen bedding (quilt or comforter or something) for a queen mattress that will be over a box spring on a 4-poster bed. Stuff labeled Queen/Full is a damn lie. That stuff isn’t long enough to hide box springs and often is shorter than the sheets. Any folks with similar setups have places to recommend? Spacially nothing has worked and I can’t really go into stores now to measure, etc. Help!!!

        1. Huh? You buy a duvet and a duvet cover. If a queen/full is distressingly small, buy a king.

    2. Have you looked for bedspreads – they are traditionally intended to reach the floor although now that mattresses are thicker, some may be shorter. Other options are to get a cover for the box spring or to use a dust ruffle.

    3. Try online at Hayneedle. Click on “product information” to find actual measurements. Also consider getting a dust ruffle for the boxspring if those still exist.

    4. My mom always taught me to buy the comforter/duvet one size larger than the bed for both overhang and to make it more comfortable for two people to sleep.

      1. +1 – when my husband and I got married, his grandma told me “get a queen sized bed so you’ll snuggle, and a king-sized blanket so you’ll still like each other in the morning” LOL

    5. Fitted sheet over the box spring was a realization for me. I just have a plain white fitted sheet over my box spring and it looks so much nicer.

  4. I have one of those “I slept in an odd position” cricks in my neck today. Is it heat or cold that is better for things like this? I feel like maybe heat to loosen it up, but maybe I’d just inflame it more? I foam rolled it this morning, and I can literally feel it rolling over the “rope” of tough muscle. Ugh.

    2. Heat works for me in those situations. I have a sock filled with rice (I wound a ponytail holder on the end to hold it shut) that I throw in the microwave for about 2 minutes until it’s warm, but not hot. I do 20 minutes of heat every hour and do gentle neck and upper back stretches after I take the rice sock off to help work out the tension.

  5. Summer vacation recommendations? BF and I are scrapping our mid-July European vacation plans in favor of something closer. We like hiking, good food/booze, culture, and I hate the heat. Coming from the east coast. We could swing up to two weeks. I’ll need internet access at least once a day (biglaw partner) and don’t mind paying more for accommodations. Maybe Glacier National Park? It looks like the park will be open again by July. How long should we plan to go? Recommendations for where to stay? Or other national parks that won’t be very hot? I’ve heard good things about Acadia too, or would that be better for a shorter trip? Thanks!

    1. I would go with Acadia. Depending on exactly where you are, you could even drive and spend time poking in the cute towns up and down the coast as well. That would remove the risk of flight cancellation while also adding to the enjoyment. Portland, ME is a great city and I’ve also heard that Camden is super cute.

      1. Sigh, DH and I did Portland–> ME Coast –> Acadia/Bar Harbor/MDI last summer and have been talking lately about how we want to do it again. It was such a great trip. 2020 is not the year, but some day.

    2. Maine is asking out of state visitors to quarantine for 14 days. It is pretty strict, you’re not supposed to leave your residence at all for 14 days after arriving from out of state. I believe that’s been extended through the end of July. I don’t think I’m super pearl clutchy about what people choose to do in this time, but I would not violate a state’s request like that, especially since Maine has few cases and is surrounded by hotspots. I also think a lot of hotels will be closed due to this order, so you may have a difficult time finding a place to stay.

      1. Thanks I didn’t realize that about Maine. I definitely don’t want to violate state law, that’s why we’re not going to Hawaii! BF kind of wants to go to the Keys but ugh the heat….

        1. It’s definitely controversial. The DOJ sued to try and stop it and from what I hear the state is really divided because tourism is such a huge part of the economy, but at the same time they have so few cases for now and being near Massachusetts/Rhode Island and not that far from NY/NJ, things could get really bad really fast with an influx of summer visitors. My family has a home in the Acadia area, this is the first summer of my life that I won’t be visiting Maine and I’m super sad about it, but ultimately I think it’s the right thing to stay home even if the quarantine order gets overturned by a judge.

    3. As I read Glacier’s reopening plan, I’m not sure it will be fully open by July and they are somewhat vague (understandably) on when all the lodges will reopen. We had been considering going in August before Covid happened; I think we’re just scrapping the idea altogether this year and will try again next year unless conditions improve and we can book something last minute.

    4. Go to Custer State Park in SD. Near Rushmore. Bison. Website is good; workers are very helpful.

  6. Just want to say, someone gave me this white noise machine 2nd hand, and it’s great! I use it for my 1yo.

  7. This passed Friday, a few colleagues and I met up for lunch as part of a working group tasked with handling state economic recovery. Previous meetings have been arranged virtually and as the state opens up, we decided too have our final meet up in person. One person offered to host us in their offices’ vast boardroom where there were no other employees around (at least not on the level we were on). Any way as the lunch progresses, the person (call them Male Partner-MP) somehow finds a way to have their hand on my ass- twice. The first time I brushed it off as an accident but the second time was a definite ass grab. Discreet enough that other people around might have missed it but it was hell of uncomfortable to me. I told them not to do it. Later that evening at about 8pm, MP strikes up an IM conversation on the day which was pretty casual but then he veered to “What are you wearing?” I shut it down and said I would not engage them and they responded with more taunts of a s*xual nature. I went silent and they called my phone twice. I assumed he was drunk and turned off the phone. Woke up to a text that was presumably sent in the night saying “Chicken- all I wanted was some fun”.

    Today we resumed our taskforce calls and both of us were on them but where he would previously echo my views, today I was pretty much a non factor to him and he refused to much acknowledge anything I say. granted, he is not the ultimate authority.

    I have never thought much about s*xual abuse outside of the obvious physical kind, but this made me feel violated and angry because this is a super connected person who in paper could be a good connection but who now I am scared to talk to or worse confront about their weekend acts as I fear they might say to ruin my career. I am the youngest team member of the group and one of two females.

    Is this a MeToo thing?

    1. Too many typos realized after I had sent the long text.

      I apologize in advance.

    2. Do you and this person work for the same organization? If so, GO TO HR. If not, go to the person in charge of the taskforce and complain. You have been assaulted and harassed and this is NOT OKAY!

      2. Hi,
        No, we do not work for the same company. We were brought together as a taskforce of unique skills to help the State in thinking about how to re-open post covid.

        I am not sure I want to report it. It is a scary thought as they hold significant social and political influence. I am there mostly for my intellectual contribution.

    3. Yes. Definitely a MeToo thing. Acting like a spoiled child because he didn’t get what he wanted from you, so trying to freeze you out. How big of a company is it? Do you have a real HR department? Especially since he put his sexual harassment in writing (IM, text), that is a definite take-it-to-HR kind of situation, at least in my view.

    6. How awful you experienced this. I’m so sorry. I totally understand the desire to not report. I have seen that backfire on women so many times, including post-MeToo. A close friend experienced a very similar thing (although the assaulter was a colleague at the same company and there was no written communication that I know of) and made the decision not to report it. Sadly, I think she did the right thing.

    1. Maple Dijon Chicken Thighs from Budget Bytes. I use boneless, skinless thighs and double the sauce. Serving with quinoa and asparagus.

      1. Thanks for this! I am making it too, as well as the carrot and orzo salad from the same site! Boom!

  10. Posted earlier a comment about a disturbing weekend event, that has now been removed. I’m not sure what rule of this blog I violated for the post to be removed.
    Anyway, grateful that this platform allows us to share anonymously, the troubling personal aspects of life.

      1. Thanks for this. I did not see it for sometime.

        Still grateful! All I needed was the solidarity of strangers.

  11. I posted last week that I’d been at a training where my slides were copied/used. Wanted to update- I held off for a couple of days because of the events of last week and because I wasn’t really sure how I wanted to handle it. But I emailed the guy this morning and asked him to please give me credit going forward. I also emailed the bar and asked them to do the same thing.

    Within about 10 minutes of sending the email, he called me and apologized sincerely and profusely- he explained how it happened (which I believe, it wasn’t exactly unintentional to use my words but he did not mean to copy me outright), asked how he could make it better, offered to reach out to the bar as well to insist I be given credit, and just owned that he screwed up and that it wouldn’t happen again. I was really grateful for how he handled it- there was no sense of him thinking “You’re just making too big of a deal about this” or anything else. He was apologetic, appreciative of my SME, and clearly wanted to make it right.

    Is this how adult men apologize?

    1. Thank you for sharing this update. With everything going on right now, I feel strangely emotional about the idea of someone really apologizing–like people (adult men, even) might get better!

      1. Right? It felt like such a great, inspiring thing and it definitely gave me a feeling of optimism.

    2. I think he knew what he was doing (and that it was wrong) but at least he acknowledges it since you called him out.

      2. Yeah, I see what you mean- you’re probably right. I didn’t want to give a ton of details, but the way he explained it did seem to recognize it was mostly my work, but in a way that didn’t feel like he’d purposefully stolen it. I still appreciate that his apology was seemingly sincere.

        1. It is still a win for you. It’s great that you were able to call him out and receive a satisfactory response. I admire the fact that you spoke up!!

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