ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break: Beetle Wing Earrings


Hat tip to CapHillStyle, who turned me on to the lovely Etsy seller linguaNigra in her roundup of black-owned fashion businesses she loves — the jewelry store has so many lovely pieces!

These “beetle wing” earrings look like the perfect way to make a statement, certainly with a cute dress or top for a date, but even just as a mood boost if you're working from home with shorts and a t-shirt (and they'll definitely make an impression on a Zoom call!).

(These etched hoops are more on the conservative side if these are too wild — and if you like the look but would prefer a necklace, the seller also has a beetle wing necklace.)

The pictured earrings are $117 at Etsy. 

Sales of note for 12.5

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

116 Comments

  1. Never made it thru morning mod — higher risk (cardiac), age 40s so still not wanting to resume life because of covid even though others are.

    Had posted earlier that I live in a 1 bed and apt folks need to come in to do something in a utility closet and a living room panel to make the AC switch on for the season. Needs to be done because it’s already hot down south. People here agreed with me that it was NBD esp with the person taking 5 min + wearing a mask and me in the bedroom and leaving my windows (only open 4-6 inches though because it’s a high floor) open. So then on Tues night we get an email that a building employee (don’t know who — privacy laws) tested positive and was at work Monday. I ended up canceling because I didn’t know if the person who’d come had been working with the positive person just 1 day prior.

    Yet it still needs to be done as whether keeps getting hotter so what to do? Building said it was fine to cancel and a fair number of people did cancel and to just schedule when I’m ready, which I think it probably “safer” because then whoever comes hasn’t gone apt to apt that day but just taken care of appointments. My only thought — schedule it next week on my grocery shopping day so all exposures are done all at once. But that’ll “only” be 10-11 days after this positive. Should I wait a full 14 days? What if we get another notification of a positive right before that — cancel again? Or just trust that even if someone has been exposed to someone else who is positive but comes in for 5 min with a mask it’s still ok? WWYD?

    1. I would stop panicking and spiraling and call the building and say that of course you assume any employee who tests positive is not coming to work for 14 days, right?!? And then schedule an appointment whenever and go outside during it. Doesn’t matter where you go.

      Like, clearly your building is not informing residents that someone is covid positive and still going into peoples homes. Not happening.

      1. She’s saying the coworkers of the covid positive person we’re likely exposed, so may be contagious at this point. Telling someone they’re spiraling, which is see a lot on here (is it always you?) is not helpful and comes across as accusatory.

        To op: I personally wouldn’t want to be home when the technician comes if you think he or she might be contagious, but i would also be fine with coming back an hour after they leave and just wiping down surfaces. Can you go to the park or something? I really think your risk here is small.

        1. She just needs to go out side when they come and when she returns home wipe down surfaces. That’s it! Feeding peoples anxiety is also an issue.

      2. I don’t think that’s OPs concern. Of course that person is out for 2 weeks. The concern is who did they work with on their last day at work and is that person making the rounds for HVAC. FWIW I think next week is fine even if it’s only 10 days and not 14 because you’re not interacting with that person, you’re interacting w a coworker who may or may not have interacted with them.

    2. I’d do it — it is HOT in my SEUS city. Time + volume of exposure is what matters. Fleeting time + mask = I am not concerned.

    3. Please find a way not to worry so much. It’s bad for you too. Stress lowers your immune system.

      I think it’s fine to proceed with your plan. You could ask for a morning appointment 2 weeks out. If that doesn’t work out, develop another plan then. Don’t borrow trouble by trying to plan for every contingency. You just have to move forward and be flexible to make adjustments if necessary. Just worry about the one appointment for now. Most likely it works out fine & then it’s over and you haven’t stressed unnecessarily over backup plans.

      1. I feel like this has been said so much to this particular poster, over and over.

        I have cardiac risk factors and am also in my 40s. I am being cautious and taking precautions but at a certain level, life has to continue. OP, you’ve been told this, but please, please try to get some assistance with the anxiety you have been experiencing for many weeks now. I am not sure what your cardiac issues are but I hope you have been told by your healthcare providers that prolonged stress increases inflammation in your body, which ups your risk for an adverse event.

        1. Step back and think about how you would feel if every time you posted asking for practical advice someone responds and suggests you need mental health assistance. Therapy should not be weaponized and lobbed at everyone with whom you disagree.

          1. Think about what it means to continue fomenting this person’s anxiety and encouraging this repeating pattern of irrational thoughts that is basically keeping her trapped in her home with no air conditioning, in a part of the country where it can actually be dangerous. If she dies of heatstroke, how will you feel about continuing to reinforce her fears and anxieties instead of encouraging her to get help?

    4. I think timing exposures all at once would be more dangerous because that’d potentially be a bigger viral load at once. Why do you think that it would be safer?

      1. Viral load is not a concept that matters in this conversation. There is minimal to zero risk.

      2. I imagine the OP finds comfort in knowing she’s now 2 weeks after her last contact with the public, but I agree with your logic.

        OP – given all the evidence that shows sustained in-person contact is the main worry, have them come when you’re not home. Leave the windows open, with a fan blowing out. Even if the worker who services your unit was in contact with the + worker and caught it, the chances of you catching it from lingering ambient air are incredibly low, and at 10-11 days out, statistically most people who have contracted Covid have started showing symptoms so would know to isolate themselves.

      3. It is actually reducing risk because it is avoiding being face to face in close proximity with someone over that same period. (Versus both having the visit and then going to the store around more people.)

    5. I’m in the same boat (sort of). My husband is on immune suppressing drugs and had surgery this past March. We’ve been holding off on having people inside to get quotes. We know our lower level air conditioner is on its last legs (it has been for five years now). I would schedule for your grocery run (or if you’re able to, try to go for a walk and social distance/mask), so you reduce likelihood of being face to face. Do it on a day when they aren’t in everyone else’s places like you mention. The CDC guidance about not being easily transmitted on surfaces should hopefully reduce some concern. (Read more on this, I think it will give some comfort–it greatly relieved a lot of my concerns.) I’d get it over with now. Even with someone positive recently,I think risk of having an infected person in your home will be even higher in the next couple of weeks as some second waves seem likely coming out of Memorial Day, re-opening trends and the marches.

    6. I would hold off and buy a costco air cooler. But I live in an old house without an AC in the Bay Area and manage with just fans, so maybe I’m not understanding how hot it gets.

      2. Yea… its 105 where I am today. My AC went out for a few hours a week ago and it climbed over 90 inside my house with fans and window management within a few daytime hours. They have made masks optional / only recommended in indoor crowded places (grocery stores etc) specifically because of a fear of heat related medical events of people outside in the 100 + temperatures wearing masks.

        I grew up in a much colder climate and was always like “oh i didn’t have AC as a kid and it was fine….” yeah no. There is hot and then there is HOT.

        1. And being indoors in 90-degree-plus heat can actually be dangerous for people with cardiac problems (which the OP says she has) or for people who have trouble regulating their body temperature because they are elderly, or have diabetic neuropathy, or other issues. Every year we have at least 5-10 elderly or ill people die in their homes because their AC goes out, or there’s a particularly brutal heatwave and their air conditioning isn’t sufficient to keep them cool. It doesn’t take long in 90-degree heat indoors for people to become seriously dehydrated, which affects their cognition, which then affects their ability to get help when they need it. And tragedy results.

    7. Can you just change the filter yourself? It’s fairly simple to do and would avoid this whole concern.

    8. I understand the fear – I’m immune-compromised due to lymphoma and its treatment – and concern you have. I combat that with a lot of research.

      The answers change a lot but Harvard’s Covid research center says that the virus lives in the air 3 hours. Question: How long can the coronavirus stay in the air? Answer: Aerosolized coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours. This report was updated 6/1/2020 – very recent info – I’ll put a link to the article in a reply.

      So this would mean that the building maintenance person would have to sneeze or breathe or cough enough to create particles that go through the mask or around the side or whatever. (Not very likely though theoretically possible.)

      Then there is the chance that the virus would land on a surface and you would pick it up. Virus lives on a surface for a few hours or some researchers say days on metal. But this is also changing rapidly. Now they are saying subway surfaces aren’t a big concern, just the air. Again, if the maintenance person is wearing a mask, these particles would have to escape the mask and get on things in your apartment. (Again not likely but possible.)

      Being the most risk adverse, you could leave your apartment for while the repair person is there plus those three hours that it survives in the air. Go shopping (I agree viral load isn’t an issue on this) and then go jogging or biking or walking. Sit in a park in the sunshine. Do something that you need to do anyway like getting a prescription. Make sure that the office knows you’re immune compromised and make sure they know they need to tell you the exact time that the person left.

      Come back after 3.5 hours and then wipe down the door knobs, the handles, the air-conditioner switch – anything that they could have touched – with anti-viral wipes. Keeping the windows open before and after the person enters might help too – not sure.

      Then relax. It is not humanly possible to do more and not having air-conditioning in the summer is going to make your stress level even higher and stress does have an effect on the immune system. Good luck. I hope this helps a bit.

  2. I work in PR. My company has a new executive who is convinced he’s an expert in PR. Spoiler alert…he is not an expert in PR. I know I should be grateful just to have a job right now, but it’s so exhausting being overruled and ignored at every turn and having everything I do totally redone by someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s been two weeks and I already want to quit approximately 637 times per day.

    1. I’m just wondering what “not an expert in PR” entails. E.g., the person who wrote Lea Michelle’s non-apoloy apology?

      [And, my thoughts go to Abe Lincoln now for actually writing the Gettysburg Address and (IMO) reading the room correctly. Both lost arts.]

      1. Haa! I actually was JUST thinking that I commiserate with Lea’s PR people because they probably tried to write a decent statement, but they had to deal with her insistence that she not admit any wrongdoing. With bad celeb statements, it’s never entirely clear if the PR people screwed up or if the client overruled them and insisted on something bad.

        1. That is true — when it goes this spectacularly wrong, I bet no one owns it. Failure is an orphan!

        3. +1 – I have not seen such a word salad non apology in quite some time. For shame. What exactly did you think your costar would “perceive” from the statement you were going to “sh!t in her wig” Lea???

    2. Can you make him think your good ideas are actually his ideas? That way you’ll get what you want and he will think he’s adding value. Yes it sucks to coddle someone. But if he is going to make the mission fail with all his stupid ideas, it may be a tact that saves the day.
      Good luck. If things don’t improve I hope you can quit, or that he moves on.

      1. Do you have suggestions for how to do this? I’m not trying to be snarky, I just have no idea how you would do that.

        1. “Building off your idea, Tom…” suggest your idea. “Tom, your idea made me me think of”… your idea. Your idea need have nothing to do with his. He won’t notice.

        2. Frame your ideas in a way that some how builds off his. Use the phrase… yes, and.. a lot. Find something in his plan that could actually work and really highlight that. Then add on, change as needed. Most of the time these kinds of people don’t notice when you modify/remove parts of the plan, as long as you keep crediting them for an element.

    3. This stinks. I’m in a similar boat – the guy has turned out to be ok, but it’s still so frustrating having to explain – and then explain again – best practices and how not to go down a really bad path (like, terrible practices). I’m sorry you’re going through this. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the 637x/day comment! I think there are a lot of people in this boat and the economy is making it even tougher to change. I’m so sorry. Haven’t found a good solution in terms of disengaging – bc then they say you’re not doing enough, but god forbid you have an opinion. Eww.

  3. Is there a different way to handle the reporting issue than just removing the entire thread for a long time? I posted a question earlier asking for advice on how to handle a rushed reopening at my workplace and I was really hoping for some timely advice, but it looks like it got reported and has been gone for most of the morning. I imagine that it got reported by mistake since it was a pretty generic comment.

    1. I’m weighing removing the plugin entirely and trying a different system — we can’t make many changes to this one, including moving the report button, changing how it acts when multiple comments are reported — and it isn’t very clear on the backend on mobile what’s been reported and what’s just in the regular queue. Thank you for your patience!

      1. Thanks for working to find a solution, Kat. I was really glad to see you implement a mechanism for reporting comments that are beyond the pale, even if the execution hasn’t been perfect. I think a lot of us appreciate your efforts!

      2. Thank you for looking into it! I appreciate the feature even if takes away some of my posts sometimes :)

  4. My allergies are wrecking my life. I am so stuffy that I can’t breathe through my nose at night (so I am always awake for a couple of hours overnight, hoping that the pops I hear are firecrackers and not gunshots and checking twitter to make sure I don’t need to bug out of my neighborhood). During the day, not being horizontal gives me some relief, but blowing my nose has made it so raw I tote around vaseline to dab on after blowing now. I had a cough in the grocery store (masked!) yesterday and made it worse by trying to stifle it and really thought I’d be run out of there or castigated on Next Door. Ugh. This year keeps getting worse.

    1. Do you take anything for the allergies? I’m sorry, this years allergies really stink. As soon as I step outside sometimes my throat goes instantly dry, so much pollen flying around.

    2. This has been the worst allergy year of my life. I feel your pain. I did a tele-medicine appointment last week. My doctor prescribed some steroids, which have provided some relief. I am at least able to sleep again. If you are able to do so, you might want to reach out to your doctor.
      Sorry you are going through this, It just sucks with the air around you is trying to kill you.

    3. You might want to ask your doctor about an inhaler. Even though I feel I can breath okay, I get a dry persistent cough from my allergies that will eventually make me gag. If I take the inhaler, it usually stops. The cough is apparently coming from irritated lungs, not throat.

    4. Have you considered allergy shots? It took two years, but I am essentially cured. In the short term, agree with the steroid recommendation.

      1. Ha! I started in the fall and my body is just digging in with resistance it seems. Or the pollen is very “hold my beer” or something.

        1. I feel like this! My allergies seem to be a year-round problem. I use Nasacort 1-2x per day to help. I find nothing else has worked at all on me.

  5. In my city, police-involved deaths are generally cleared as justified (shooting a person firing a gun), with one occasional one being accidental but not criminal (taser where the person died). I know that a lot invovles training and habits. We have not had police charged with wanton murder like the Minneapolis case (FWIW, my city is majority-minority (maybe 1/3 white, Hispanic, black; smaller Asian population); and all key elected and appointed officials are black and have been for a while). Murder is murder. A police-involved shooting that is not murder is unfortunate; no one wants to take a life. My city also has a rampant homicide problem (again, not at the hands of the police; acknowledged as a problem by city leaders).

    I just got a fund-raising e-mail from a local community org that that doesn’t touch on these issues in its primary mission that lumped all police shootings in with the Minneapolis one and yet said noting about local on-going problems that create big QOL issues in some crime-ridden neighborhoods. I am obvs going to not give to these people. But I am really shocked at how they see things as equivalent (and that they’d ring this bell for fundraising for an org that just needs $ but won’t actually work on any of what they are calling out as problems).

    Ugh.

    2. I find it interesting that in a shooting where the police shoot someone firing a gun, you assume that the police actions were correct. Why was the individual stopped? Were they shooting because they were afraid for their life? Was the shooting reviewed by a civilian investigatory panel?

      We have almost no police shootings in my small Canadian city. Heck, they didn’t even carry guns until the mid1990s. Does that mean the police don’t have racism problems? Nope, because they are human beings and prone to racism just like anyone else raised in a society that does not adequate address racism issues. It’s not enough to not shoot black people wantonly. Police forces need to be actively anti-racist.

      1. Thank you for this. I didn’t hand the energy to write it out.

        Most car on pedestrian deaths are accidents. That doesn’t mean we can’t stop them through implementing better policies and procedures.

      2. Often the police in my city are called b/c someone with a gun is shooting it at people. I am not sure what the alternative is — let the person shoot until someone else is killed? Try to count the bullets to hope that the person is out when you rush in to tackle that person? A lot of these people are mentally ill and/or on drugs (or off their meds) so it seems to be very challenging to de-escalate. I guess it is a no-win situation, but it is very clearly also not murder.

        1. The solution is not to shrug your shoulders and say it’s okay for them to shoot people. There are many cities which have successfully implemented mental health first response teams for exactly these types of situations and significantly reduced incidents of suicide by cop.

          Demand better.

          1. I don’t know where you live, but my city is pretty violent and there isn’t a lot of suicide by cop.

            [And I hope that police put in that situation are given every bit of PTSD and mental health counseling they deserve. My job seems horrid at times but doesn’t put me in the position where I am forced to decide between my life and that of another. ]

          2. My city has a major problem with police shootings. My state consistently has the highest rate of police shootings per year. The police department in our state’s largest city had to enter a consent decree with the Department of Justice. Since then officers have received more mental health training and the Department has expanded its Crisis Intervention Team, which includes psychiatrists and social workers who respond along with specially-trained officers to calls with mentally-ill people. The department has also increased its community policing efforts and made connections with a subset of mentally ill people who are often in crisis and have the police called on them. The officers develop a rapport with these clients and so built trust and when the police are called out these officers respond (in plain clothes and in regular cars). Police shootings have decreased since this happened. (There are a lot of other factors involved in what led to the issues on our city and the problems are far from solved.) Police can help even violent mentally ill people without killing them. But they need other community resources too. Most police officers are not well trained in dealing with mental illness, yet are usually the first people called in these situations.
            (I definitely recognize that police brutality affects people other than just the mentally ill, but I am responding specifically to the post about mentally ill people with guns.)

          3. So when the shooter gets to your kid’s school and wants to shoot the place up – maybe that armed school resource officer should just try to talk the shooter down. Let’s see how that one works out.

          4. Yep this. Also, in your own post you admit that “often” the police are called b/c someone is shooting. That doesn’t mean every single instance where the police are called thats’ the case. Some of the cases may truly be cases where shooting was the only choice from a public safety perspective (but even then, there are other options – rubber bullets, not shooting to kill, issuing warning shots, etc., etc.). Even if every single case is truly justified that doesn’t mean that we should not as a society examine every single instance and hold police officers accountable.

            It’s absurd to me that our military who are actually trained to kill have more accountability procedures in place to investigate when a weapon is discharged than our police who are allegedly here to “protect and serve”.

        2. You suggest you google it. Tons of resources out there to explain what defunding the police can look like.

        3. There’s plenty of mentally ill people who don’t kill and “healthy” white males who do, you know. If you really believe it’s mentally ill folks and addicts, there is something that can be done to prevent it from escalating in the first place. Do you support health care for all? Because these demographics could benefit from access to treatment. In addition, do you support increased gun regulation?

          1. This was in response to someone saying it’s fine to shoot mentally ill people and/or addicts. I hope that post is gone for good.

      3. I’m not in Canada. But somewhere in the US where any police shooting, no matter how justified (i.e., in defense of other people) and no matter whether it may have saved lives, is often cause for unrest in recent years. I get that you can reduce shootings, but probably not to zero given that everyone here is armed and often shooting when the police arrive (and medics won’t save people already shot — they are ordered not to go in if they hear shooting). It is unfortunate and it is what is. But it’s not murder. Everything is not the same as the worst thing.

        1. And a police shooting not being the worst possible police shooting doesn’t mean it isn’t wrong and couldn’t have been prevented.

          1. How exactly can *every* shooting be prevented? Especially on active shooter calls? Active shooter calls seem to end when the bad guy drops the gun because he know’s it’s up but a good # of people already trying to murder someone seem committed to that path and no amount of de-escalation seems to actually work when the bullets are already flying. [Examples that come to mind are two recent school shootings, both of which had the shooters give up when and b/c police showed up; in one other case, the guy didn’t and was shooting up a restaurant full of people — what then?]

          2. I don’t think every shooting can be prevented. But I think we should try much harder than we are. Never achieving perfection isn’t a reason to not start taking steps.

          4. Gun control also prevents shootings, including active shooter situations. The police could be a lot more vocal on that issue.

          5. Can we stop with the “straw man” it’s a straw man, I have nothing to say but look mom a strawwwwman.

    3. Yup, I had an organization send me an email that lumped in a government agency that does not have a primary enforcement function and are not typically armed in with police violence and I was so mad at them for slandering a good agency as a cheap marketing gimmick I will never donate again.

  6. Has anyone gone from being a lawyer or something similar to becoming a nurse? I have been a lawyer for almost 10 years (I’m now 37) and hate it. I’ve been thinking a lot about nursing lately and am considering getting my BSN. This would require me taking a few undergrad science courses (I was a history major) and then the BSN program I’m looking at is 2 years. I am familiar with the physical nature of bedside nursing because my ex was an ICU nurse. Is this insane? Part of me thinks it’s crazy to go back to school at this age, but then also part of me thinks I have 25 years of career left in front of me.

    2. Not crazy if you’ve thought it thru including the negatives and you want it — an on your feet job that’s fast paced, gets harder w age, dealing w people in a very personal why, while making less money than law.

      1. Oops! I’m not sure how I missed that one! Thank you. Thanks to everyone else who posted their thoughts as well. Lots to think about here.

    4. I know it’s not easy to search this site, but the lawyer -> nurse conversation has happened at least a few times in my recent memory. There might be some good threads if you can find them.

    5. I don’t think it’s insane but I would think carefully about what it is about nursing that appeals to you. Are there other health related professions that might interest you but have more regular hours and less shift work like dietitian or physiotherapist or speech pathologist? The shift work and physical nature of nursing work can be hard. I would totally switch to being a registered dietitian except my local university doesn’t offer that degree and I don’t want to uproot DH/the kids.

    6. My mom left teaching at age 50 and became a nurse. She was an extremely focused, (mainly) straight A student because she took it really seriously. She’s been a full time RN for 6-7 years now and loves it. Who cares if it’s crazy! It’s your life :)

    7. I am an RN and don’t regret it for a minute. I worked almost 10 years in a trauma ICU of an inner-city hospital. Loved most of it. Bedside nursing is hard both physically and emotionally. You will work night, evenings, weekends, holidays, etc. Ultimately, there are tons of other directions you can go as an RN. I have worked in industry since leaving the bedside. Just about every medical-related company employs nurses in some fashion (sales, clinical support, business development, medical affairs, etc). Plus the multitude of other jobs that are always mentioned. But I really feel to be successful at any of these jobs you need clinical experience that only comes from direct patient care. If it is worth it or not depends on what is drawing you to nursing.

    8. Mother and sister of active RNs here.

      There are tons of drawbacks for nurses, just like lawyers. Maybe from your Ex you have a lot of knowledge of the real work but perhaps try to talk to some active nurses and/or shadow a nurse. ICU/ER nurses have much different working lives than infusion/oncology nurses and that is different from med-surg floor nurses and from psych nurses.

      One of the best things about nursing is its multitude of career options without or with going back for a graduate degree.

      With a JD, you could also work in industry or insurance. You could work for med malpractice law firms but that would probably be too much like your current job.

      You could also investigate RN/MSN programs which are also approximately two years and take people who already have a BA. Some don’t even require all of the pre-requisite science courses and are targeted at career changers who are successful professionals now. The MSN would give you more options, such as teaching some day or hospital administration. Plus it would keep you from having to go back for more schooling.

      For example, Vanderbilt has a two year RN/MSN program where you do the first year in Nashville and the second year can be done anywhere with online classes for the remaining courses while completing rotations/clinicals.

      Good luck.

  7. Positive things to distract myself with? I suffer from anxiety and depression and I’ve been very affected by both lately. I normally love the news (politics junkie here), but news consumption is overwhelming for me right now. Work has also been very negative, so leaning out a bit. I used to enjoy reading, but it has been difficult lately. I need some basic, simple, positive things to do.

    1. Walks. Photographing neighborhood flowers. Coloring. Puzzles. Nature documentaries.

    2. I have been really into crossword puzzles lately. They let my brain do something that is not work and not about what’s going on today but still stay engaged. It feels weirdly productive and satisfying. I paid for the NYTimes subscription, and there is access to all the archives so you will never run out. I feel like I spend all week “training” for Sunday – haha!

    3. I love historic houses. When I’m drained but not sleepy I like to go on Zillow, put in a random city (Portland ME? Boston? Eureka CA?), add some “year built” parameters, and click through whatever looks cool.

      1. That sounds like an awesome hobby. Husband and I both do fantasy real estate browsing, but more like where will we move when we are retired? I am going to start using the year built feature like you do.

        pS you should do your thing with Berkley. There are a lot of beautiful Julia Maybeck houses here.

      3. That’s incredibly cool I didn’t realize you could search by age of home. Thanks! I like stuff like “cheap old houses” on IG but they can be rather undesirable.. .yours is a much more controlled search.

    4. Listen to a favorite book you’ve read before on audible. The aural stimulation prevents me from focusing on stressful things, and the repetitive nature of something I know is soothing.

    5. My blood-pressure-lowering show is Antiques Roadshow. The UK Antiques roadshow is also amazing. I’ve also appreciated gardening midst the pandemic – just having a few things, like fresh basil I grew myself, is a small but very positive thing. Wishing you best of luck.

      1. +1 — I’ve been watching an embarrassingly high volume of Antiques Roadshow episodes on YouTube recently.

      2. There was a time we watched so much Antiques Roadshow that we would get excited when certain appraisers would show up.

  8. For those of you who have sought treatment for ganglion cysts, what was the treatment? I’ve had one come and go on the back of my wrist over time, but it’s back and very large and hard. The other times the cyst was smaller and could be sort of moved from side to side. This one is so large it’s immobile.

    It’s ugly and my wrist does get sore after a while- keyboard work and cooking and working in the garden – i would think the soreness was just activity related but the wrist with the ganglion cyst gets sore and the other doesn’t, while I’m more or less equally using both hands.

    I’m reluctant to go to the doc as I’m in a hot spot getting hotter and I realize this is truly elective. I also don’t like my primary care doc (I got her through my prior doc retiring – she doesn’t listen and rushes me through) so that’s another thing. Tele-health is an option but not sure what they could do over video.

    2. Your doctor may suggest a telehealth visit to look at it before an in-person visit. They may also suggest going from there to a specialist, without seeing them in the office. They can have you measure the cyst and discuss how it has changed and is affecting your daily activities.

      Even if they need to see you in person, you will probably be directed to a website to do as much of the check in process in advance as possible. You will be asked to wear a mask. And the health care facility will probably be the cleanest and safest place in your community.

      Elective doesn’t mean unnecessary. It just means that you can schedule getting it taken care of.

      2. “Elective doesn’t mean unnecessary. It just means that you can schedule getting it taken care of.”

        This, 1000%. If something is hurting you and interfering with your activities of daily life, and surgery is the answer to the pain and interference, the surgery is necessary, it’s just not urgent.

    3. My sister gets those in her wrists. When they get so painful they start interfering with her life, she goes to the doctor and I believe they inject a steroid (like cortisone) in them. It seems to take care of them. They do flare up periodically (like every few years) for her.

      1. Also, to clarify I believe she sees an orthopedist for treatment, not a general practitioner. My insurance doesn’t require referrals to see specialists so maybe look into if your insurance has a similar policy and go straight to the orthopedist? Otherwise, telehealth to at least get the referral?

    4. Is there any ortho specialty practice or hand to shoulder center near you? That’s where I would go. My daughter had a growth on her wrist that was initially thought to be a ganglion cyst and we got great care from an orthopedic wrist specialist at one of them. We have a couple of these in my city that are freestanding and not connected to a hospital or even any other doctors’ offices, so they are only seeing people for ortho issues. I know the ones here are taking every precaution, because I had to take my mom a couple weeks ago. After having to close for several weeks, they are very interested in being safe and remaining open.

    5. I went to my primary care doc and they aspirated it with a needle and then injected a steroid. They told me it could come back, but 2+ years later it never did. I regret waiting so long to get it done, it was so way.

      1. I did the same with an ortho, but mine came back, sadly. I think it’s more common that they return than that they don’t but I figured it was worth a try. (You can’t keep doing this though, because you can end up screwing up your wrist if you get too many steroid injections.) I’m holding off from surgery because it’s not interfering with my daily life, although it messes up a lot of yoga poses and limits my ability to do planks without modifications. Surgery can result in scar tissue that messes things up further, so it’s not risk free. I’d probably make an appointment now with a specialist, because they may have a wait.

      1. I cannot describe to you how truly awful she is, rivaled only by her front office staff. I think I can go directly to an orthopedist under my insurance, so thanks everyone for the advice. I truly didn’t know what kind of doctor treated this.

    7. A colleague once had one. We dropped a heavy book on it and that took care of it. In retrospect maybe not the best treatment option but it was free.

    8. Follow up – I called an orthopedist who is in-network for me and made an appointment for a telehealth visit next week. Thanks again for the help!

    9. I had one for 20 years on my wrist. I asked my doctor about removing and he said they like to leave them alone. So I took a binder clip, clamped it on on the cyst and twisted. It was gone the next day. I should have done it years ago.

  9. This should be easy, but I can’t figure it out and I’ve been on phone hold with UPS for 30 mins so far.
    I have a large package (20 in x 13 in x 4 in – laptop return) that has pre-paid return label. I don’t want to go to the UPS store (in hotspot area/NJ). Immunocompromised, WFH and only leave my apt every 2 weeks. Apartment building doesn’t have concierge/door person. How do I arrange UPS pick up? Will they come up to my apartment to pick up – I suspect the answer is No. Will they call me when they are in the building lobby?
    Life 101… trying to avoid going to the UPS store or any other store that accepts UPS packages. The package is too large to fit in a drop-off box outside on the sidewalk.

    1. Go to ups website and look at scheduled pickup. In general ups works with multi unit buildings, so I have believe they have this option

    3. When all else fails, drive to the UPS store (if you have a car) and have them come out of the store and pick it up from your trunk.

      See if a friend lives nearby and would run the errand for you.

    4. I think they will come to your door, especially if you have an elevator. I’m in NYC and I’ve never lived in a building with a doorman. When I have arranged USPS pickups, they buzz me to get in the building and then come up to my apartment. I would just try it and if this doesn’t work, you can always move on to plan B later.

  10. For fear of sounding frivolous with that is going on in the country/world right now I have a shopping related question for you wise ladies. I have a significant birthday coming up and I’m considering a new fancy purse, always admired Chanel classics or maybe a Gucci in a more classic style. Have you ever purchased a style from these brands? Is the quality worth the hefty price tag? I kinda wish I “invested” years ago before the crazy price rises and while I have the means to comfortably afford one I’ve stopped myself in the past because it sounded like a silly splurge. Am I crazy to entertain spending thousands on a purse? What’s the most you have ever spent in a purse?

    1. I would wait and make sure the purse is going to fit into your post-Covid lifestyle. I fully expect to get back to travel and things like that, but luxury purses are one of those things I can see myself permanently backing away from as we all WFH a lot more.

    2. Just wanted to say I never got expensive purses until I held my friends Chanel bag. The luxury, the craftsmanship, the elegance were immediately apparent. It was …just a really noticeable difference. My friend told me she has owned her beautiful bag for years. Some things really are classics and worth the splurge.

  11. I don’t mean to pile-on, but I ask you to consider whether this is the week to direct traffic to the site of a former NRA lobbyist.

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