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Coffee Break: Macbook Case

faux green crocodile cover for MacBook

This faux crocodile case isn't for everyone — after all, it is a MacBook case — but I found it last week when I was doing our roundup of the best laptop totes* and totally fell in love — it just seems so much more substantial than a lot of the stick-on covers I've seen. I like that it isn't just a case for the top (monitor) portion of the laptop, but it also has a cover for the bottom (keyboard) portion.

The case comes in a bunch of colors for faux crocodile, as well as some unusual animal prints and glittery cases, all for around $81 (marked down) for MacBooks. They also carry iPhone and iPad cases.

*The brand doesn't have any laptop totes just yet, but they DO have a laptop sleeve… which is currently sold out.

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!

Sales of note for 12.5

138 Comments

  2. I posted at the end of the morning thread about seeing a new psychiatrist (for depression). He ended up prescribing 5mg of Abilify to go along with my Lexapro. Has anyone taken Abilify?

    1. No Abilify experience, but did it go well? I wanted to respond but didn’t see it until you’d presumably already gone into the session!

    2. 5 mg of Abilify is a very small dose that is often prescribed as an adjunct to SSRIs. My daughter took this dose. I’m not sure if it helped the SSRI perform better, but she had no side effects (as expected with such a tiny dose). It seems like it’s worth a try.

    1. I don’t think the job is that outrageous? It seems like a fairly standard executive family assistant role and the salary doesn’t seem wildly offbase either. I’m so far from the income bracket of the people who hire for those kinds of roles, but I don’t really get the outrage.

      1. Yeah, I worked as a nanny for a rich family and I did all this stuff. Childcare, the dog, errands, taking care of the house, dealing with contractors while the house was being renovated, etc. The job doesn’t seem that crazy to me, but the people probably are!

        1. I will add though, when I was the nanny for a rich family I got at least 4 weeks of vacation a year because they rarely took me on their vacations. Two weeks is bogus.

      2. I feel like you’re missing OP’s point, which, I think, is that most moms do this stuff themselves in addition to a full time job. It’s a lot!

        1. Right, but people who hire this stuff out typically work insane hours. I work ~40 hours per week so someone who is working 80 hours/week is doing the equivalent of my job plus a whole other full time job. Of course they don’t have time to pick up their dry cleaning or be home for a plumber or make detailed travel plans. That’s why jobs that demand insane hours typically pay a lot of money so you can pay someone else to do all that stuff for you.

    2. This was widely rumored to be a posting from Tom Sachs and his wife. It makes sense given his work (the dog systems bit seems like something he would include) and he is apparently a real jerk and runs through assistants constantly. I have worked in the art world too long, as the salary didn’t seem low to me at all. I work for a large nonprofit arts org in NYC and our entry-level salaries are definitely lower.

        1. Fascinating. I will absolutely offer myself as a Dog Systems Management expert.

      2. Yeah, reading about Sachs and his wife was a fun little lunchtime rabbit hole…

  4. Can anyone recommend any mentorship programs I can sign up for in the DC area? I’m thinking like a young professional paired with a more experienced professional. I’m 29, soon to be 30, and I am new to the city. I work in banking but my area crosses legal/regulatory/government, etc. (To be clear, I’d like to be the mentee, and I’m looking for a program outside of my company).

    1. Is there a professional association you can join? One of the main reasons to join these groups is for the mentoring programs. If your work area has a big association, that might be a good option, but sometimes the smaller ones, like for women or a certain geographic region, will be geared more to this.

    2. Your school might have something similar — my undergrad has mentoring anyone can sign up for.

  5. I am exhausted. I want to take a leave of absence from my job, huddle in my condo for a month, maybe doing some cleaning and decluttering but otherwise nothing. I’m a partner at a law firm (non salary) and although I could afford a month off I can’t afford the dip in work that would certainly last longer than that. I honestly daydreamed last night about needing surgery so I could take two weeks medical leave. I am less busy at work than during earlier pandemic times, but still working unpredictable hours with an understaffed team and lots of administrative time. I guess I’m not sure what I want other than maybe someone to tell me it will be ok.

    1. It will be ok. That said, book a week or two (in a row) off stat. You’re burnt out and teetering on depression, if not already there. It’s the surgery part that makes me think this – I’ve had the same thoughts.

      hugs to you. I’ve gone through similar. Take care of yourself!

    2. I’ve been there. Make up some excuse for why you need a week off and just take it. I hesitate to jinx it, but I’ve “gotten” the flu or food poisoning when necessary. My work is handled and I have plenty of sick leave, but I work with a bunch of workaholics so feel like I need to provide a reason. OP, if you don’t take the time to rest now, you will collapse at a much more inconvenient time.

  6. Inspired by the morning thread about boundaries in big law, what do you think are reasonable boundaries for lawyers who charge $,$$$? My interest in the question is as in-house counsel, ie, the client.

    1. Most attorneys who charge four figure hourly rates are rainmaker partners, so they should have a team of people working under them. I think as the client you can expect a near immediate response except in the middle of the night, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect the partner himself to be doing the substantive work if he’s on vacation or it’s a major holiday. That’s a high rate even for Big Law though, right? When I was there I thought most partners billed around $600-700 although it was a while ago.

        1. +1. I’m in house and review bills from our outside counsel every month. We mostly rely on V20 firms and sr associates/counsel are in the low 1000s now. Senior partners mid-1000s (and up).

        2. Not just senior associates. Juniors and Mid-levels too. Look at the S&C billables for the FTX bankruptcy.

    2. If I’m working into the evenings on a deal and am paying expensive outside counsel, I expect them to be there with me (metaphorically).

      I do not expect that if I send a random late-night email when I’m digging out of my inbox, that I get an immediate reply!

    3. My expectation as in-house counsel for outside counsel is that you will respond to me within one business day acknowledging that you got my request and letting me know by when you can complete the work. So, reasonable boundaries would be whatever allows that responsiveness. For OC with only one client, that’s going to be a lot easier than someone who is juggling 50 clients. But that’s for the OC to manage.

  7. Do any of my fellow Olds remember that mayonnaise was often labeled “salad dressing” at the grocery store in the late 70s early to mid 80s? I remember my mom being specific that she wanted the generic mayonnaise and not the generic “salad dressing.” I didn’t really know the difference at the time, but both were sold in mayonnaise jars right next to each other?

    Was the salad dressing more of a Miracle Whip type thing? And what kind of salad would anyone put that on? Yuck.

    I’m trying to explain this to my daughter, who sent me a pic of “heinz salad cream” from, presumably, somewhere in the British Isles. (Her point in sending it to me was that it looks disgusting.)

    1. I know this: Mayonnaise is mayonnaise — made of egg yolk, oil, and an acid like vinegar or lemon juice. E.g. Hellman’s or Best Foods. Salad Dressing is mayonnaise with other things added, most notably, in the case of Best Foods, sugar. What kind of salad would you put it on? Back in the day there were all kinds of “salads” involving jello and canned fruits and vegetables and I don’t know what-all. And, of course, potato salad and egg salad. Also popular as a sandwich spread. And yes, they were in similar jars, right next to one another on the shelf.

      Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

      1. Oops. In the second sentence replace “Best Foods” with “Miracle Whip.” Also there are spices added along with the sugar.

        1. Miracle Whip also contains less oil – not enough to be legally called mayonnaise, I think.

      2. Ok so it was Miracle Whip (generic) and not meant for a leafy green salad. That is a bit of a relief!! I will skip the jello and canned fruit salads, I think, though I did love a carrot and raisin salad (remembe those?) at other people’s houses/buffets, and I assume those were probably made with “salad dressing” of this sort!

        Thank you!!

        1. Well, when I was in my first year at a large law firm I was ordered to bring a side dish to a firm holiday potluck lunch and when I asked the organizer for an idea, since all of the dishes I was comfortable making were already taken, I was told to make a “layered salad” involving layers of leafy greens and other vegetables and a top layer of mayonnaise (but more likely would have been made with Miracle Whip by anyone bringing this dish). I made sherried sweet potatoes instead.

          1. Oh the 7 layer salad! I thought that had sour cream but to be honest, it’s nothing I’ve ever made myself

      3. I always assumed Salad Dressing (something I only saw having come to live south of Kansas) and Miracle Whip were the same thing, and I figured Salad Cream in Britain was the same thing.

        Team mayo generally because it’s not made of god-knows-what, but I have many a fond memory of a cheddar and Miracle Whip sandwich on a summer day as a kid.

        1. Yeah, as far as I know salad cream is used like mayo in the UK. I don’t think anyone is actually putting it on lettuce.

      4. Comeback sauce is made with mayo and I think people put it in salads – those salads made with a mountain of iceberg lettuce, carrot shavings, and maybe a token tomato.

        1. I had to google comeback sauce, it sounds a lot like In n Out spread.

          Can you tell I’m in CA?

      5. I have terrible news for you. Hellmans has sugar in it. This is why Duke’s is best!

        1. I tried Duke’s and didn’t like it as much as Best Foods (Hellman’s). For me, the crucial thing is how it tastes mixed with a packet of Hidden Valley buttermilk recipe salad mix and a cup of buttermilk. Best Foods for the win.

          Signed,
          A native Californian

    2. Miracle Whip is basically just off-brand mayo, and would be used in recipes where you would use mayo, e.g., potato salad and chicken salad.
      In the Midwest, “dessert salads” made with fruit and Cool Whip are a thing, but that tastes very different and much sweeter.

        1. Maybe “off brand” is not the right term but per wikipedia it was invented as a less expensive alternative to mayonnaise, and would generally be a substitute in recipes in which you’d use mayo. Cool Whip is what you’d use in a fruit salad and is completely different. Cool Whip is basically whipped cream, not mayo.

      2. Cool Whip =/= Miracle Whip, and I would argue the defining factor in whether a Midwestern “salad” concoction is dessert or not.

        1. yes, that’s what i was trying to say. I’m not disputing that Miracle Whip may be a bit sweeter than regular Mayo (Wikipedia says it is due to the use of corn syrup instead of sugar), but it is NOT Cool Whip and would not be used in a fruit or jello salad.

          1. Sorry, you *were* being clear and I apologize for sounding like I was piling on! Just don’t want anyone to think the two Whips could be substituted. Shudder.

          2. I’m OP and I do understand the difference between mayonnaise/salad dressing and cool whip I didn’t even ask about cool whip! I asked about the stuff that used to be sold in jars (not in the freezer section) next to the mayonnaise, labeled salad dressing.

            And what people put in jello salads and fruit salads was probably a lot different in the 1970s vs today. I have a family recipe for some kind of jello thing with olives in it and, just no.

          3. But there was some discussion about dessert “salads” above and those wouldn’t be made with mayo or Miracle Whip.

          4. I beg to differ. I was served many a jello “salad” topped with Miracle Whip on visits to family in Ohio. I never ate it because, well, I think that is disgusting (and I wouldn’t have eaten Cool Whip either, because I find that, too, disgusting), but it was definitely fake mayonnaise and not fake whipped cream.

          5. Absolutely. Miracle Whip =/= Cool Whip. However, there are/were indeed “salads” featuring jello and/or canned fruit that feature both of those substances.

      3. It’s not off-brand mayo at all. More sour. than mayo, too. There is a reason Kraft uses “tangy” in the Miracle Whip tagline.

        My husband is horrified, but I actually LOVE Miracle Whip as a sour cream replacement on tacos.

        1. OMG my family’s go-to taco recipe was:

          Corn tortillas fried in oil
          Ground beef crumbles seasoned with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
          “sauce” made of quartered tomatoes, coarsely chopped red onions, and Miracle Whip
          Shredded iceberg lettuce
          Grated cheddar cheese

          Yum. Can still taste it. Once we got more sophisticated we added a squirt of La Victoria taco sauce…

    3. I don’t remember that specifically, but I do remember that a lot of food just wasn’t that good back then.

        1. I thought that I didn’t like food. Turns out I love food, just not ‘70s and ‘80s food.

          Here’s an old timey recipe: roll white bread with a rolling pin. Cut off crusts. Spread mayo over bread. Pay out one canned asparagus spear diagonally across bread; roll bread around asparagus.

          1. Same. I thought I didn’t like food, but I just didn’t like white bread American food of the 1980s.

            Did you also live through the revelations of the 90s like “kiwifruit” and “hummus”? I think the first time I really realized I liked food was at a “Macaroni Grill” restaurant, which was pretty adventurous for my midwestern family at the time!

          2. I was a full grown women before I learned that people roast veggies. Growing up, we only had canned veggies.

          3. Bertucci’s for me. That place had a line out the door and across the parking lot when it opened.

            Hummus… kiwi fruit… so much better than canned vegetables, frozen vegetables that were mushy (kids, you don’t know how good you have it), salads that were a small mountain of iceberg lettuce and mediocre fatty dressing (I thought I hated salad), pasta sauce that was basically reconstituted tomato paste….

          1. BRB off to make a Crown Roast of Frankfurters with a Frozen Cheese Salad on the side.

      1. Mid-Atlantice GenX here and I will eat Hellman’s with a spoon but do not bring Miracle Whip in my vicinity. That was never ever in my house.

      2. Gen X, grew up in the Midwest, and don’t mind the Miracle Whip at all! It’s what I grew up on.

    5. absolutely I have that memory! I don’t remember the brand, but the shelf had two identical little tubs, and my mom would specifically request the salad creme with the green lid, not the yellow lid mayo. We used it for potato salad. I think it was a bit more tangy? Or maybe she was looking at calories, I don’t really know.

    6. No. Salad cream is a British item that looks like mayonnaise but it doesn’t taste anything like mayonnaise. I had it in England in the 1970s and it was indeed disgusting. In the US, salad dressing was always salad dressing – Italian, French, Thousand Island, etc – at least in the northeast.

    7. I remember its being labeled “mayonnaise and salad dressing.” On the same jar.

    8. Yes, salad dressing is definitely Miracle Whip. I think legally mayo must contain a certain grouping of ingredients that Miracle Whip does not meat? Similar to the difference of ice cream and frozen dairy dessert.

      Regardless, as a Dukes or Hellmanns mayo purist, the gloopy grossness of Miracle Whip shall never cross the threshold to my home!

    9. I mean tuna salad is made with mayonnaise. So is egg salad. I don’t think most people put it on lettuce straight up but I’ve used it a component of a salad dressing. I enjoy blue cheese and Russian dressing which I guess is disgusting to you?

      It’s fine if it’s not your cup of tea and I don’t want to attack you but I do get a little bummed out when people go out of their way to “yuck” on food. My mil does this all the time “why would anyone use mayonnaise-so disgusting” and it seems to me like it’s part of a less than healthy relationship with food.

      1. I like mayonnaise, for the record. I’m OP. Just asking about salad dressing vs mayonnaise – but honestly, I don’t know why you’d find something like this upsetting!

      2. ” My mil does this all the time “why would anyone use mayonnaise-so disgusting” and it seems to me like it’s part of a less than healthy relationship with food.”

        I agree 100%.

    10. I’m Russian and grew up with a lot of “salads” dressed with mayo — like American egg or potato salad. When I’ve tried to recreate them, I needed to get mayo from the Russian store — it’s runnier and less solid and less salty than any American mayo I have tried. Russian mayo would be too liquid to spread on a sandwich unless you were using a very small amount.

      1. A combo of Mayo and sour cream also works for the right texture/tang!

        There are tons of sour cream salad recipes in Eastern European cooking, too. Two of my favorites are thinly sliced radish OR cucumber, dill and/or green onions, dressed with sour cream and lots of black pepper. Salt to taste. Perfect side to any grilled food.

        There is also a salad of shredded/grated cooked beets, lightly dressed with Mayo, super finely diced garlic or red onion, and chopped walnuts – it’s truly delicious!

      2. Another interesting data point! I used to live near a bunch of Russian stores in the outer Richmond district, SF, and loved all sorts of things I bought there, but it never occurred to me to try the mayo. Bummer.

        (the jams and jellies were DELICIOUS, though)

      3. Persian and when I was little we would do a mayo/lemon juice dressing for our salad that gave the consistency you describe.

    11. In other news, my mom’s signature weekday “salad” was a wedge of iceberg lettuce with a dollor of Miracle Whip.

      *gag*

        1. Haha, I think my grandma did this. I seem to recall we only bought “salad dressing” when she was visiting. She would have been too thrifty to insist on name brand Miracle Whip.

      2. I have seen salads in the wild dressed in (I think) Miracle Whip, in the last five years. This was an Indian or Pakistani restaurant. Lettuce, a couple cuke slices, and tomato wedges + creamy bland white dressing. So, this restaurant is not the best place for salad. However, the kebabs there are fabulous… and I don’t really go anywhere for a salad. Maybe this is that salad cream stuff, though, because both India and Pakistan are commonwealth countries.

    12. OK Olds, how about the enchiladas people used to bring to parties, baked in a disposable foil pan, and each enchilada had three slices of black olive down the spine, just like a Taco Bell Enchirito.

      I would seriously kill for a real enchirito right now (I know they’re on the “secret menu” but they’re not the same)

      1. OMG I won’t even scare you with my grandma’s “enchiladas” (pronounced “enchiladees”), featuring boiled and drained ground beef in a warmed flour tortilla, folded in half, covered with sauce made from tomato sauce, lard, and no seasoning whatsoever, topped with grated cheddar cheese, shredded iceberg lettuce, and the ubiquitous black olive slices.

        My cousins still make them for special occasions.

  8. I commented this morning under a thread, probably too late for an answer.

    If Wellbutrin didn’t work for you, what did? My young college-aged son is experiencing depression and anxiety (dysthymic disorder, officially) and his psychiatrist keeps upping the dose of Wellbutrin, which just gives him headaches and makes him feel “dull.” I wonder if he should be doing like the TV ads and “ask your doctor about…” and try something else?

    He’s been on and off the Wellbutrin for a few years now, so this isn’t an acclimation thing.

    1. Did he ask his doctor about trying a new medication? It may be the case that the drug just isn’t the right fit for him. It’s pretty much trial and error IME (though I haven’t had one of those genetic tests that is supposed to tell you which anti-depressant will work for you, maybe that’s an option).

      1. He did ask, doc seems pretty sold on Wellbutrin (generic) because he has both depression and anxiety. I cannot tell you how hard it was so find a psychiatrist in the first place, otherwise we’d be shopping around.

    2. Has he taken SSRIs? Typically they are the first thing they try (e.g. Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac). But I wonder if they decided to avoid them because SSRIs have some s*xual side effects that can be persistent, which your son might not want to discuss with his mother.

      1. Are SSRIs supposed to work very well for dysthymic disorder? I thought they were a lot more effective for major depressive disorder.

        Though maybe diagnosing is not that precise.

    3. Yeah, he’ll need to say the words to his doc that “thanks, this isn’t working for me anymore – can we go in a different direction?”

      I’ve been on meds for a decade, and have only in the last 2 years found a good provider who’s like, “Oh man, another med quit on you? That sucks! Let’s try this one.” The only psychiatrist I ever saw actually blamed ME when I said a med wasn’t effective anymore – her exact words were “What did you do to make them stop working?” As if meds don’t quit on people all the time!

      There is a test that I’ve heard about on here called the GeneSight test that can eliminate the guessing game with moving to a new drug, but it’s only available with a prescription.

      Good luck to your son. It can be hard to find the right med, but it feels soo good when you do!

      1. I had the Genesight test done a couple years ago after my trusty celexa pooped out and we were basically playing whack-a-mole with other meds. I think I paid $300 after insurance (and my insurance sucked so it may be different for you).

      2. My son took the GeneSight test and it was enormously helpful to give us a starting point with anxiety and ADHD meds.

        1. Thanks both. I will look into the GeneSight, though I have to say I am SO SICK of out of pocket expenses for mental health, and wonder why we pay well over $1000 a month for health insurance, gold plan (I am self employed).

          1. That’s a bargain.

            I pay over $1000 a month for a silver plan, just for me. I’m 53.

    4. So many people do better with an addition of another type of medication. It sounds like this psychiatrist is not working very hard to find a solution.

    5. I’ve been on Effexor XR for over a decade and nothing else has worked as well. Wellbutrin didn’t work well for me, neither did Zoloft. Paxil was great but made me crazy hungry all the time.

  9. Tell me about your clever drop zones in your house… I do well when I have one and if not there’s clutter everywhere. I need something pretty for on top of a vanity outside the bathroom, and something smart for a console table that collects the kids’ garbage. TIA!

    1. I did baskets when my kids were little, but then the baskets just filled up and no one put anything away!

      I now place things that need to go upstairs on a ledge we have at the base of the stairs (sort of a glass-less window frame – old craftsman house) and things that need to go downstairs on a banister post at the top of the stairs. Has my cat knocked things off of those banister posts? Oh my, yes. But it gets the things downstairs anyway. I don’t have a perfect system.

      1. I see you’re asking about vanity stuff. I have a mirrored tray (specifically called a vanity tray) on a tall cabinet in my bathroom. No vanity, old house = pedestal sink. I put all of my makeup on the vanity tray, brushes and things like mascara and eye pencils are in repurposed candle jars (diptyque size) on the tray. Any makeup that doesn’t fit on the tray gets put away – I don’t really need that much makeup.

        Most of my skincare is on a single shelf in the mirrored medicine cabinet – top shelf is for husband’s shaving stuff and sunscreen, second shelf is our toothbrushes and toothpaste (toothbrushes lay on their sides on a folded washcloth, which I wash and replace weekly), third shelf is actual medicine like ibuprofen and the daily prescriptions, and fourth shelf is my skincare. Same with makeup, if I have more skincare items than will fit on this shelf, I’m probably not actually using them and they get put away.

        Put away means the linen closet or a pretty box I have in my closet for makeup backups.

        I have a different mirrored tray with gilt edging on my bedroom dresser for perfumes, which I like, and the bottles look really pretty on the tray. Same with other items, I don’t keep too many bottles on there, because light isn’t good for them anyway. I just keep out the ones I use every few days.

    2. What type of clutter is collecting? I’ve done best at getting things to go in their places when I look at what is collecting where and why. My husband has lots of sunglasses and will leave those/earpods/his keys/money clip on our island. It drove me batty so now he’s got a large decorative bowl for keys/moneyclip/earpods and I installed a narrow shelf inside our mudroom closet door which is perfect for sunglasses/static guard/spray sunblock/bug spray.
      In our bathrooms I got a bunch of the ‘rubber coated vanity trays’ from CB2 and they do a good job of coralling toothbrushes/face wash/lotions/etc. so the vanity has some semblance of organization.

      1. xmas presents the kids didn’t really want, batteries for remotes, remotes, holiday stuff that didn’t get put away, a random pack of cleaning wipes… maybe I just need to sweep it all into a doom box and put an expiration date on it.

        1. Clutter is just stuff that doesn’t have a home. It could be the unwanted gifts need a home at your local goodwill, the rest just needs to be put in its home. If you don’t have a home for these things, make one or decide you don’t need them. If you put them in a basket until you decide what to do with them, they will still be in the basket 10 years from now. Ask me how I know.

    3. Reminds me of my mother, who was a nurse: “Never go down the ward empty-handed”. So every house we lived in had drop zones in convenient places, such as the top and bottom of the staircases. And so now I also do.

  10. Curious if anyone has any idea what this brief illness (virus, I’m assuming) I just had is? I woke up yesterday morning with a sore throat and it got worse throughout the day, last night it was really sore and painful. This morning when I woke up the sore throat was basically gone but my head feels stuffy and woozy. I’m not sneezing or coughing and don’t have a runny nose. I don’t think it’s a cold because usually for me those involve a very drippy nose and zap my energy for at least a day or two. I feel basically fine except for the stuffy head. My lymph nodes in my neck were swollen yesterday so I’m 99% sure it’s something infectious and not just allergies or a reaction to weather changes. I tested negative for Covid and no one else in my family is sick. Obviously it doesn’t really matter, but I’m just curious if anyone has any idea what this could be because it’s so different than most other viruses I’ve had.

    1. I’d keep testing for COVID. I know multiple people who didn’t test positive for days and days.

      1. I doubt it. Most people I know who had Covid had way more significant symptoms than this.

        1. These symptoms are exactly what my daughter (fully vaccinated including bivalent) experienced with a very recent bout of COVID. She almost wondered if it was strep the first day, then it went into her head and she felt dizzy and achy, then for the last couple of days it moved down into a cough. She didn’t test positive on a rapid test until the third day.

          She works as a part time nanny so she waited until she tested negative on a rapid test before going back to work because she didn’t want to give it to the baby, and it took almost two weeks.

          1. Oh no. You’re literally describing the cold I have now. Moved down to a cough today. I’ve tested negative the last 3 days but then ran out of tests. Will try to get some more.

          2. Colds still exist. Not every cold like illness is Covid. If you’ve tested negative 3 times and don’t have a household member with confirmed Covid you very likely don’t have Covid.

          3. +1 sounds like covid, especially if you’re vaxxed. Symptoms present differently depending on if/how much you’re vaxxed (and symptoms show up before a positive test b/c your body starts fighting it earlier).

      2. this sounds like my mom’s COVID in December – her worst day symptom wise was the day before her positive test. she tested + after 4-5 days.

    3. When I had hand, foot and mouth disease my main symptom was a sore throat. I never got the blisters.

      1. Sounds like a mild cold to me too. There’s variation in how bad colds are. Some make me want to stay in bed for several days but there are colds where it seems like it’s over before it began.

    5. Two of my friends just had this! It’s not Covid. It’s a really bad sore throat cold. Take pain relievers and it will go away in 4-5 days.

    6. This tracks with my Covid diagnosis 10 days ago. Tested negative at home but positive on PCR at doc office the same day. Get the paxlovid.

    7. I’m not sure how old you are, but I don’t really know anyone over 30 who had Covid without having at least one of fatigue, aches or fever. My husband had about the mildest Covid case of anyone I know in our age group (late 30s) – he never stopped working (from home of course) and was back to running 10 miles a day as soon as he finished his five day isolation period – and even he had one night where he ran a 101 fever. Also while I know it’s possible to not test positive until day 4 or 5, almost everyone I know tested positive within a day or two of symptoms their starting. If you’ve tested negative and don’t have any fatigue, achy joints or fever I think it’s pretty unlikely you have Covid.

      1. Almost everyone I know tested positive only after day 4 or 5. I’m not sure anecdata is something we can make predictions off of, but I am pretty confident that COVID has the highest R0 of anything going around currently.

        1. Covid has a high innate R0, but not necessarily a high effective R0 because so many people have recent immunity. Certainly you can’t just assume any virus is Covid. I’ve never had Covid (I test a lot because we spend a lot of time with my 70-something parents) but I’ve had a dozen or more non-Covid viruses in the last two years. Granted I have kids in daycare so I’m exposed to more crud than most adults, but I know many childless adults who’ve had recent colds and flus that weren’t Covid. There was a very nasty non-Covid cold that went around my town in January and I also know a lot of people who had flu or RSV (confirmed by test at the doctor’s office) recently. Covid is definitely not the only thing out there making lots of people sick.

  11. Imposter syndrome has been hitting me hard lately. Our office dynamics have shifted a bit lately, and I’m constantly feeling like I’m not good enough to be here; I’m probably oblivious to things that are obvious to everyone else; and I’m dead weight. Not smart enough. And lest you think I’m early in my career, I very much am not. It’s not always this way, but I’ve been feeling this way pretty often in the past six months. I need a new focus, or purpose. Or something.
    I had to get this out into the universe in case any of you can relate.

    1. No one has it as together as you think they do. Everyone is faking it to some degree. It’s just that some people do it more convincingly than others. Hang in there.

    2. This was me today. I objectively know that I know what I’m doing. Like I’ve done well at past jobs and in school and I remind myself that I made it to final round interviews of for a far more prestigious job at a hugely respected company in my field. But today had me in a spiral. I was on a meeting with a client. I can tell everyone there thinks I’m dumb. Like the group of them are so incredibly rude. And it was just me and a coworker senior to me who I suspect doesn’t like me. I got tongue-tied. And coworker actually kind of made a snarky comment that they laughed at. I took a walk at lunch and just tried to remind myself that I’m better than this. Even if I don’t feel like it today.

  12. so I did the mature thing and complained to my boss about new person.

    kidding.

    I did talk to boss about new person, because their snacks are deadly for me and we share an office* turns out I am not the only one with weird vibes. so boss will have a discussion about that, and hopefully new person will develop some chill.

    *food allergies yaaaaay

    1. I periodically just hate my job because of useless drama, and like I’d be better served elsewhere career wise but I don’t want to stay in this field

    2. Try not to muddy the water with the new person. The more you dig in on feeling like the “vibe” is off and gossiping with others about how the vibe is off, the more it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy with your experience. Also, whether the new person stays or not, people tend to remember you by how kind you are. If you’re planning to leave soon, you should be focusing on giving that appearance rather than leading the office drama, esp with someone senior. I’ve seen this end up biting people big time in the end, especially since there hasn’t been anything done that’s objectively bad yet.

      1. I just realized that reads wrong, the discussion is about the snacks.

        I’m juuuust senior enough to get the details on new hires and how they’re setting in, but yeah I don’t really like to gossip.

        1. I thought the same thing based on “turns out I’m not the only person with weird vibes” — it sounds like you were talking about more than the snacks? Or did boss receive comments from someone else and was passing along gossip? Awkward.

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