Frugal Friday’s Workwear Report: Striped Puff-Sleeve Ruffle-Collar Top

214 Comments

1. Any other federal contractors being “offered” the chance to reduce hours to avert layoffs? I still have a choice but the writing is on the wall and I think I pretty much have to do it. It’s hard because I’d love more time with my baby, but reducing to 30 or 32 hours a week still requires daycare and they don’t offer part time. I feel like there are other considerations I should be looking at, but I’m not even sure what.

   1. Can you do tax returns? Or just enjoy the time and network or job search.

      1. I’m so confused by the advice to do tax returns. The filing deadline is Tuesday. Even if you were qualified to do that, it’s not the right time of year to do it.

         1. Things on extensions?

            1. People who are filing extensions are not going to hire some random person with no relevant experience to do their tax returns.

   2. I intentionally cut back to a 32 hour a week schedule as a govt contractor after my second child was born, and kept full time childcare. If you can afford it, it is amazing. I did 4 days on, with Friday off each week. usually I kept the kids in daycare, ran some errands, organized my life, relaxed a bit, and the picked them up early. It was the best balance of my life. (After a year, I took a new job and had to go back to full time.)

      1. I would have loved that prior to the DOGE cuts (knowing my job was secure for a later step back up). But it’s likely now a bridge to a layoff and spending time job searching will be a drag. Of course I’ll have to suck it up but it’s the literal worst.

         1. It would be great to use the extra day care hours for the job search.

            1. yes. from a currently unemployed person, do not underestimate how much time job searching takes up

            2. Yes, it’s not my first time job searching. It’s not how I would want to spend these months with my young baby. It’s soul-sucking and I originally considered reducing hours to spend time with him.

            3. It’s not what you want to do, but it’s certainly better than waiting until you get laid off and then having to job-search full-time with a baby in your lap.

2. What’s are some easy dinner ideas for a casual dinner with another family of four? I often do a taco bar, but all the chopping and different ingredients add up to a lot of work and not very cheap. I’m looking for something a little elegant for company but not over the top.

   1. Baked ziti, garlic bread and bagged/premade Caesar (put in a nice bowl with pretty tongs)?

      I usually go with boring ‘white people’ food when I have company and try to use nice dishes.

   2. Lasagna and a big salad is super easy and make ahead. I like inas goat cheese and turkey sausage version. It’s pretty foolproof and I don’t imagine terribly expensive.

      1. This is what I would do.

   3. Chili and cornbread with a salad? Not sure that qualifies as elegant, but it is easy and tasty.

      1. Yep. We do a big pot of chili with cornbread any time kids are over (assuming no allergies).

   4. Pretty similar, but anything you can throw in the oven and doesn’t have a lot of stovetop time to tend to…plus a big salad or veggie side and french bread. Recently, I did two pans of sheet pan chicken with veggies and it all cooked together. Also, crock pot pulled pork or Italian beef is a big hit.

   5. Pot roast with carrots and potatoes is very easy and one-pot. Add a green salad on the side to lighten it up a little.

   6. I really like Hetty McKinnon’s recipes for this…she has a dumpling and tomato salad (recipe in the NYT) that is easy and can be made ahead; I’ve made it successfully for dinner parties. Or Smitten Kitchen’s spanakopita (the 2022 recipe, not the older one) is easy and can be made ahead. If you want the party to feel nice/special, I would avoid anything that screams “church youth group supper” (so chili, sloppy joes, french toast sticks (lol), anything where ground beef is a main ingredient…)

      1. I really love her recipes, both in the NYT and her cookbook, and second the rec for the dumpling salad (there’s also a good one with cucumbers and peanut sauce). They’re not necessarily super kid friendly, though, unless you know the kids in question are willing to eat a wide variety of vegetables and spices. That’s the advantage of something like a taco bar, where everyone can make their own, but takes a lot more last minute work, vs one pan meals assembled ahead.

      2. Hard disagree if there are going to be kids. “Church youth group” may seem boring, but that’s better than alienating (too veg heavy, too spicy, something folks have never had before, etc.). It’s not a successful dinner if someone feels like they don’t want to eat what you make. Heck, I know a lot of adults that wouldn’t like spanakopita. I think having a lot of options or doing a make your own set-up is the friendlier way to go. Make your own pizzas, noodle bars, etc. or even doing one type of entree like that but pairing with a salad is less likely to leave someone in the group hungry.

         1. “It’s not a successful dinner if someone feels like they don’t want to eat what you make.“

            That’s an insane standard.

            1. Is it?

            2. For a group dinner?? Yeah, absolutely. I really don’t like chicken, which is a food most of the rest of the world does like. If you made a chicken dinner, with the reasonable expectation that your guests would like it, and I didn’t eat any of it, would you think you failed?

            3. Oh come on, the poster was clearly just saying “know your audience.”

            4. I would think the baseline requirement is that your dinner guests want to eat what you cooked.

      3. My church choir used to go on tour for a week during spring break each year. We’d go perform at a different church each night and they’d feed us dinner and send us home with host families. Spaghetti *every night* for a week… I got sick of it as a teenager, I can only imagine how our chaperones felt.

         1. A week of cucumber with peanut sauce would mean my teenager would eat nothing for that week though. One night of boring is still better than making something those without diverse palettes will avoid.

            1. Okay, so your family only eats white people food, we get it. I assume that’s what you mean by “without diverse palettes”? But there are plenty of families who aren’t white and where the kids might hate spaghetti. It’s interesting to me that your default assumption seems to be that OP and family and OP’s friend and family are all white.

            2. Is it? Your boring kid will eat plain rice on the side and cope. Don’t impose your picky eater on the rest of us as a hospitality standard.

            3. Holy racism, Batman. White people are not all picky eaters and they are not the only picky eaters.

            4. I would hope your teenager has the skills to cope with one meal they don’t particularly like.

            5. “Diverse palates” means palates that like multiple different foods. That is what diverse means. It may commonly be used as shorthand for “ethnically diverse,” but that is absolutely not what the word means.

            6. Wow. Not at all a comment on race. But a comment to know your audience. A lot of kids and some adults won’t eat something that is veg heavy, etc. so you’ll want at least one “boring” option. I like vinegar salads. But I’m not going to make that the primary dish if I know I have a bunch of kids in the mix. I recognize a lot of folks won’t be that adventurous with what they eat, especially kids. “Diverse palette” means literally in the sense of appreciating a lot of different tastes. Not ethnic diversity. Literally google the term. Good lord.

   7. Smitten Kitchen baked ziti (I use mushrooms instead of meat) and a salad.

   8. Kebabs on the grill outside with a buffet of pita, falafel, and hummus, babaganoush, tzaziki, and tabbouleh as starters.
      Or italian sausage on the grill with onions and peppers and hot dogs for the kids.

      Basically, people entertain with grills for a reason. It manages to balance fun and efficiency.

   9. One chicken pot pie from the farmer’s market, one quiche, and a green salad. With some backup chicken nuggets and fruit depending on the kid situation.

   10. Here’s the menu I did last week for a similar size party. It was easy, quick, kid friendly and looked great:
       – baked tortellini- boil tortellini, add alfredo sauce, put in 9×13, add grated asiago and broil for a golden crust
       – baked zucchini spears- there’s a simple recipe that tells you how to do it so the zucchini isn’t soggy
       – grilled chicken- tenderized with a mallet, grilled on Ninja grill
       – melon balls for dessert- honeydew, watermelon, cantaloupe. Do a reduction of orange juice and ginger, pour on melon balls, chill 2 hrs. Add mint

   11. My favorite go-to for a dinner like this is a really good mac and cheese (Ina’s truffled version if the kids are okay with the mushrooms, Martha’s if they are not), a fancy-ish fresh salad targeted more to the grownups, and some roasted kid-friendly veggies.

   12. An older and accomplished hostess once served this to a multi-generation dinner party. My kids ate (oldest was maybe 9-10 at the time) and it was both beautiful and delicious:

       Penne
       Sausages (2-inch slices, pan-seared)
       Big red pepper slices lightly roasted
       Homemade cream sauce served separately for individual portioning
       Green salad

       She claimed it was her go-to for dinner parties with kids: quick and easy, something for everyone, and you can make everything except the 5-min cream sauce ahead for quick reheat or easily keep it warm for up to an hour with minimal fussing. I recreated it myself a couple times and can vouch for ease!

   13. Roasted veggies, roasted potatoes/sweet potatoes, and roasted chickpeas or sheet pan chicken. Serve with tzatziki, nice bread/pita, some fresh cucumber, tomato, lettuce, or herbs, feta, lemon wedges.

       1. yummmm

   14. I would make a pork loin and serve potatoes or mac and cheese, carrots, and a green salad. Super easy, looks like an elegant grown up meal, but has kid-friendly components with items that can be skipped and still make a meal.

3. I used a lavender and shea shampoo and conditioner bar and it did not work at all for my hair. My hair is wavy, fine, and long. Sulfates do usually work well, so I understand why this bar wouldn’t be great, but it really dried out my hair and made it a rough texture.

   I like the idea of using a shampoo bar, especially for travel. Any suggestions for other ones that might work?

   1. This is the only experience I’ve ever had with bar shampoos.

      1. me too!

      2. I did that one shampoo bar with fermented whatever that social media sold to me. I actually loved its effect on my hair, but I have thick stick straight hair and it gave me more volume. Maybe it’s just hair difference.

         I only stopped using it because I’m too lazy to order from a specific website so always end up with grocery store Pantene at the end of the day.

   2. I have fine, wavy, shoulder-length hair and tried so many shampoo bars that disappointed me.

      The one I do like is Hibar’s Volumizing shampoo and conditioner bars (definitely not any of their other options – the curly one specifically was awful for me). It does not have much scent (more reminiscent of T-gel, but faint). It does leave my hair nicely clean, soft, and shiny. The volumizing formula also doesn’t weigh it down so it doesn’t end up lank and lifeless. I do go very easy on the conditioner bar – I use about three shampoo bars for each one conditioner bar.

      1. This is the consensus I’m coming to. I would love for this to work so I’ll try the Hibar Volumizing one, but that’s probably it. That is interesting about the shampoo to conditioner ratio – I was definitely not doing that.

         I was thinking of using a bar shampoo but a normal conditioner as a balance.

   3. I only use Lush shampoo bars. For fine hair, Seanik is great and the red cinnamon one is good.
      I’ve never found a conditioner bar I liked. I just use a hair oil in damp hair after shampooing, and only shampoo twice a week.

      1. I had a crazy allergic reaction to a Lush bar once! I’m not sure what to exactly – it had a lot of ingredients. But that has also scared me off of bars with a lot of natural ingredients.

   4. I have fine slightly wavy hair and like the kitsch rice water shampoo and conditioner bars. They leave my hair soft and shiny. I tried another brand that was horrible.

      1. This is tempting. I wonder if hard vs. soft water makes a big difference for how well these rinse out?

      2. Me too.

      3. The Wirecutter did a review a couple of months ago on bar shampoos. Kitsch rice water shampoo bar was their top pick. I’ve been using it for the past two months and I really like it. It works just as well, maybe even better, than my pricy shampoo that I buy at the salon. The Kitsch conditioner is good, too. A year ago I tried a couple of bar shampoos and I just about gave up – I didn’t like any of them, but I really like Kitsch.

   5. I have fine straight shoulder length hair (colored). I like both HiBar and Brixxy. I’ve tried a bunch of different bar shampoos and these are the two that I find sufficiently moisturizing without weighing down the hair.

   6. I have fine, straight hair and I use JR Liggett’s classic bar shampoo. It cleans thoroughly and doesn’t weigh down my hair (I have tried a few other brands and didn’t care for them).

   7. I use Love, Beauty and Planet Coconut Water Shampoo+Conditioner Bar. B/c it has the conditioner in it, it isn’t too drying. I use a separate conditioner as well – currently in a bottle, but I need to look for a separate bar!

4. Tips for managing acne breakout? I normally don’t get pimples, however I ate chocolate this week (quite a bit… oops) and several pimples appeared on one cheek. They are red and bumpy but don’t seem to be coming to a head. I will be on video next week at my volunteer gig and feel self conscious.

   1. pimple patches! or any hydrocolloid bandage (band-aid makes them as well as several store brands) on the affected area. Wear while you’re sleeping/around the house as much as you can.

   2. Do you have a dermatologist? Call them or just call around and see if anyone can get you in for a steroid shot to shrink these faster. It’s like a miracle! Mention that you are going to be on video so it is an SOS situation.

      1. That seems like a really expensive solution! How much does it cost you?

         1. Low cost option – ice roller, sulfur cream, and pimple patches. Not sure about everyone else but thanks to the recession I’m cutting back on cosmetic derm visits.

      2. People always say you can just go to the dermatologist and get a cortisone shot, but I think it’s a myth. My derm won’t do anything like that and also advises against removing anything on the face because the scarring isn’t worth it.

         1. My derm. has done it–but it was during a scheduled appointment. In fact, I didn’t want him to do it, and I felt really embarrassed afterward (was when I was much younger and really self-conscious about my acne).

            To get in for an appointment to do that? I can’t imagine. A mole check is a few months wait at my current derm. Maybe a med spa would have a derm or nurse on staff for that?

   3. Low-tech solution – practice sitting further away from the camera. I promise, no one is staring at your face as closely as you are.

      1. and zoom has “touch up my appearance” / teams has “soft focus”

   4. Sulfar cream to dry them out and then pimple patches to flatten them out. It should calm things down in 2-3 days max. I like the de la cruz sulfur cream, I dab it on with a q-tip and let sit for ~10 minutes, wipe it off with a tissue and then wash my face at bedtime/apply the pimple patch.

   5. I used to zap big pimples with heat. I wet a folded washcloth with water as hot as it would come out of my faucet and pressed it hard on the pimple until the washcloth cooled. It was nearly foolproof as long as your water is in that sweet spot-not so hot it burns your skin but hot enough to melt whatever is inside the pimple. It never scarred, unlike popping, which did. Mine were probably hormonal, so maybe it doesn’t work for other types.

   6. Get End-Zit on Amazon – it clears any breakout for me overnight.

   7. I had this issue all the time with a lot of different foods and stresses. Doctor prescribed spironolactone which is $20 without insurance and works incredibly well.

   8. They will almost certainly disappear on their own in a week!

   9. I have had good luck dabbing a drop of tea tree oil on blemishes.

   10. In a pimple emergency, and you don’t want to see a dermatologist stat, you can buy over the counter steroids/hydrocortisone and put the tiniest of drops on it. NEVER use this regularly. Only sparingly, or you can thin your skin. But it really works.

       Dermatologist never tell you to do this because many people do not follow instructions, and once they realize it works, they use it too often and hurt their skin.

5. Any recs for sheer tights that are hardy and good for people with long legs? I’m not that tall but I find that a lot of tights just expect my waist to be a lot lower than it is. And sizing up makes them wider, not taller. I also would prefer if they didn’t tear immediately.

   1. When I asked a similar question here someone recommended Dim brand sheer tights. I tried the 30d and the 20d and both are very durable. For some reason the 30d are very short-waisted, but the 20d are longer. I don’t have long legs, but they are very stretchy and fit well even though I was near the border on the size chart and went with the smaller size. They don’t bag around the ankles like many brands.

   2. Sheertex? On sale only – don’t pay full price!

      1. I hated Sheertex–plasticky, baggy, and not really sheer.

      2. I love my sheertex! I’m wearing them today. And they are high waisted, a thing I require.

      3. Sheertex tights don’t work for my long skinny(-ish) legs. Even if you can get the crotch in the right place when you put them on, they slide down and you will be tugging at them all day. I tried a larger size but it wasn’t much better.

         1. Actually this makes sense. I have thick thighs and a bum and they stay in place. I agree that they wouldn’t if either of those features were different.

   3. M&S from the UK. They can be purchased online. The autograph range is lovely but the regular range fit well, just cheaper materials.

   4. Are sheer tights the same as hose / pantyhose?

      1. In the US the term means something more sheer than opaque tights but more durable and probably somewhat less sheer than pantyhose. Like actual tights but 20-30d thickness as opposed to the typical 50-60d for opaque tights. Pantyhose are filmy, extremely sheer, and exceedingly flimsy.

      2. Yep. Blanked on what they’re called this morning.

   5. Try H&M, they are made for tall Scandi folks

6. A neighbor teaches in Fairfax County. She said that she is being told to treat COVID like a cold and just go to work masked if she tests +. Ugh. Happy Spring Break and Easter, everyone.

   1. This is awful, for her, for the kids, and the district telling her to come in sick is yet another example of why we can’t have nice things.

      1. I don’t understand why schools pressure students and staff to come in sick when they are facing staffing and sub crises. If you let the sick people stay home they wouldn’t infect everyone else, and you would end up needing fewer sub days overall.

   2. I don’t hate this advice. I don’t test for covid every time I have cold symptoms. If I have a fever/achiness, I stay home because I feel crappy, but if I’m just stuffy or coughing but feel fine, I wear a mask and go about my day.

      1. Yeah as a very high risk household, I’d much rather people wore source control masks whenever symptomatic than that they only mask if they tested positive on an insensitive rapid test. Thanks for your approach.

   3. I mean, isn’t it now?

      1. Like a cold? No. It still kills a lot of people; the media is just over it now.

         1. +1. Sorry to say it but it’s true. I wish to god we had a nasal spray to block transmission, high-quality surveillance, accurate and cheap home tests, effective vaccines, and ever-improving therapeutics.

            1. Or at least expanded hospital capacity now that we predictably have this many more people in need of it.

         2. The flu also kills lots of people each year, and this is how we manage mild flu cases.

            1. No, you don’t send someone into a crowded classroom who tests positive for flu.

            2. And you also don’t go into a crowded classroom if you have a really bad cold. CDC says you can go back to work 24 hours after you are fever free and symptoms are improving for flu, which is in alignment with their guidance for all respiratory illnesses.

            3. Source: https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/prevention/precautions-when-sick.html

      2. This is how I feel. It’s like the flu now. You don’t get a flu test – you probably wouldn’t teach either. It’s going to be here in some way or form and we have to accept that, while not acting like its a full blown pandemic either. Every year we’re going to get flu and covid shots from now on.

         1. Except RFK Jr canceled the planning meeting for next year’s flu shot, so it’s not a given we will get it!

            And if I feel like I have the flu or Covid I will test. I wouldn’t for sniffles, but flu tests are real and easily available

            1. I test for flu and covid because treatments are available if you get an early diagnosis.

         2. You do get a flu test so you can get antivirals.

            1. I’m a 40+ year old human in the world. I didn’t even know you could test for flu. Doctor or box test?

               Usually if I feel bad enough I just stay home. How would you know to test ahead of time?

            2. You used to have to get it at the doctor’s office, but now you can buy combined home flu + covid tests. You test when you get sick.

         3. But people test for the flu and, if they test positive, stay home till they feel better and are not contagious. I don’t know anyone who tests for every sniffle, but if you’re achy and feverish, stay home, and if you test positive for flu or covid, stay home.

      3. No? It still causes hospitalizations and death in some people. I understand accepting Covid as a part of life now and adjusting behavior accordingly, but it’s more on par with the flu than a cold. If symptoms are minor then masking seems an okay protocol, but let’s not pretend Covid is a big old nothing now.

      4. 100% to everyone except this audience who catastrophize it.

   4. No one I know cares about Covid at all. I have a high-risk condition and even I can barely care anymore.

      1. Same. I don’t really even know anyone who tests for Covid anymore.

         1. I had it again a few weeks ago. It took me a couple days to figure it out, I attributed the sniffles to allergies, and muscle aches to a tough workout, but then I got a fever on day 2 or 3. I happened to have an old expired test still sitting in the closet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bothered testing. I did avoid being out in public and mask up for several days after that, once I knew.

            Agreed COVID is most akin to the flu, right down to readily available vaccines that can really reduce severity. I’ve had COVID at least 4 or 5 times, but I’ve kept up with the vaccination & boosters as available (and I’ve been lucky) and they’ve all been mild cases with only one day of feeling really run-down.

         2. I live in a blue state (IL) and have not gotten a covid exposure note from my kid’s school this year, which means parents aren’t testing.

      2. Yeah I think a lot of people just burned out on it, even in scenarios where the risks haven’t changed.

      3. I test only to tell how long I’ll feel crappy, Covid is far less of an illness for me than a cold.

         1. Vascular diseases don’t always have a lot of symptoms, it’s true.

            1. Covid is a respiratory disease.

            2. COVID has been recognized as a vascular disease since 2020. It’s not just a URI like a cold.

            3. Preach.

      4. 100%

   5. This stinks, but at least they are advising source control masking. Not like anyone actually wears the masks or wears them properly even if they do try to wear them, though.

      1. I do. I wear a mask in crowded public areas, like a supermarket, commercial airline flight and airport, or rapid transit. The minute I hear a cough, if I’m not already wearing a mask I put it on. No COVID-19, flu, or bad colds so far this winter. I also got a COVID-19 booster and a flu shot, quite late in the season.

   6. I’m with the district on this one.

      1. I wonder how many parents would be? Frankly, I’d be pissed if I knew the district was encouraging folks to come into crowded classrooms with active Covid. The same way I’d be pissed if they were coming in with RSV. It’s not the same as a cold, as much as we might want it to be.

         1. I’m the anon who sides with the district, and I’m a mother of 3. My kids all had Covid and it was very mild. Really just a non issue for us.

         2. I’m a mom and fairly covid cautious (we still mask on planes, in theaters, and in other crowded places, and we take tests because my elderly parents are even more cautious) and I’m with the district. Covid isn’t “just a cold” but it’s mild enough that quarantining everyone for 10 days isn’t practical anymore.

            1. Quarantining everyone is different than not coming in actively sick though, no? Like I wouldn’t want someone coming in who tested positive for flu either. There’s a reason why most schools share guidelines on fevers and such.

            2. But surely there’s a happy medium between “come in With active COVID” and quarantine for ten days. Be for real.

            3. I’m not sure they would have ever done those quarantines if they hadn’t been confused about how it transmits. Masks work pretty well.

            4. @Roxie, actually not really. I tested positive for 13 days when I had it and I had super mild illness that never felt worse than my seasonal allergies. I know many others with the same story. Active COVID is a 10+ day illness for many, even those without severe symptoms.

               I don’t think a teacher who feels terrible should have to be at work – that’s what sick leave is for. But if the teacher feels fine, it seems silly and impractical to be required to stay home based on a positive test, given how long many people test positive for. Masks are also incredibly effective if worn by the sick person.

         3. I’m a different mom of 3 and I think teachers should stay home if they’re sick enough to need to rest. Otherwise, I have no issue with a teachers wearing a mask over their cough, even if it’s COVID.

   7. Until you wrote this, I didn’t realize I haven’t heard anyone IRL say they have COVID this year. Not because nobody is getting sick, but because it’s impossible to distinguish from a run-of-the-mill virus they pick up from the kids or on a plane like normal.

      1. It’s not impossible to distinguish! There are literal tests for it! Quick and easily available!

         (What you do with that info is up to you, and I agree we shouldn’t treat it like the Black Plague anymore. But I like to know, especially with the body of research starting to emerge about long term cardio and other health risks. It is NOT on par with the common cold.)

      2. The rates of viral transmission at school and on planes don’t have be normal.

         1. This seems like wishful thinking.

            1. A lot of teachers would like the air quality standards to at least meet the minimum for safe housing of livestock.

            2. Teachers and students and parents would like that, but we don’t value any of these constituencies so…

         2. As the parent of a young child, I wish this were true, but this is not going to change in my lifetime.

      3. I have COVID right now. Both COVID and the flu make me very sick, so going to urgent care to get tested gets me antiviral access. I think it’s fair to treat COVID like other viruses at this point.

   8. Uhhh yeah? Like everywhere else? If she’s not too sick to work why not?

      1. I’d like to think that people would use sick days and subs when they are confirmed to be sick. Because no one masks. I’d like to not go visit relatives in assisted living and spread it to them or the one person on chemo when it’s my turn for the meal train. Especially when you know you are +.

         1. I do think it’s wrong to visit nursing homes or similar when you KNOW you are positive, but until we have humane sick leave (combined PTO of 2 weeks total doesn’t count), people will go to work sick.

            1. Teachers have sick days and subs! I wish I could have a sub for my job.

   9. COVID is still imediately dangerous to some people, and don’t know how bad the long-term consequences are. For many people COVID is not “just a cold”–it kept me confined to the house for more than two weeks. We don’t take it seriously enough. However, there are tons of other viruses out there that we also don’t take seriously enough. Flu, RSV, enterovirus, adenovirus, and a host of other viruses also make people very ill and can have lingering effects. My daughter has caught at least six of these viruses every year since masking ended in her high school and during college, and it’s never flu or COVID. These viruses usually knock her out of class for a few days with a high fever, then cause a cough and vocal problems for at least two weeks. Sometimes she also gets a sinus infection and/or an ear infection. She is a normal healthy kid, and her pediatrician says that this frequency and level of illness is typical. It’s really detrimental to her learning. If people would stay home when acutely ill, and if schools and colleges would implement infection control measures such as proper ventilation, source control masking, and dining hall hygiene, everyone would be a lot healthier and there would be better learning outcomes and less absenteeism overall.

      And don’t say it can’t be done. From 2020 through the end of masking and stricter rules about keeping sick kids home in our schools in June 2022 (masking was only mandatory through January 2022; it was voluntary that spring semester with about 50% participation), no one in my family caught a single illness.

      1. That degree of illness is definitely not typical for a healthy child over the age of 5 or so, and I’d be pushing the doctor for some immunodeficiency testing.

7. I am attending a conference later this month at the Austin, TX Mariott Downtown. Any recs for a yoga studio within walking distance? I called the hotel and they said they have a fitness room (but no classes), I really do better in a class instead of on my own. Any type of yoga ok, would be for 2-3 days.

   1. I am in Austin but don’t yoga downtown so I don’t have a specific rec, but I looked at the map and see there is a BFREE in the area. I have been to other older locations of that studio and really enjoyed it, so I’d recommend that.

   2. I also went to a conference in Austin about a year and a half ago and went to two yoga studios:

      Black Swan: they only offer hot yoga. I had never done hot yoga before and apparently it is HARD, lol. The class I went to was packed (though I went during the after work rush, so might be better at other times of the day). I wouldn’t do it again but I’m glad I tried it. Might be better for you if you’re looking for a more intense workout.

      Practice Yoga: the studio founded by Yoga with Adriene. This was so lovely! Looks like it’s about a mile from you.

      1. Seconding Black Swan is unpredictably hard. It really depends on the instructor, so if you want an easy flow while travelling, I’d go elsewhere.

      2. Black Swan is like the crossfit of the yoga community.

   3. I like CorePower on 5th St, which is about a walkable mile away

   4. This is what Google maps is for.

      1. Nah – she asked for a recommendation, not simply the number and location of nearby studios.

8. So, I feel like I’m getting behind in my tech abilities at work…what apps or methods does everyone use for task management? We have Teams and beyond chat/meetings, I feel like I could be utilizing it a lot more. I also use OneNote for meeting notes, but could that be used for task management as well? Any tips, thanks!

   1. Look into Notion for meeting notes + task management!

   2. I like trello for project management and tracking stuff

   3. Look at Monday dot com account for task management. I think they offer a free version that would be fine for individuals. If you want something more robust for a team, there are other options. And put the app on your phone so you can add stuff when you think of it

   4. An anti-recommendation here for Asana. It is so bad.

   5. I use Trello for task management.

   6. Microsoft Planner is a good option too if your org is a Microsoft-only kind of place.

   7. I used Monday for my team.
      And this is old school but I still use digital Sticky Notes

   8. Since you are on Microsoft, check out Planner and/or To Do. Both are part of the native Microsoft environment (although availability may be dependent on what level of licensing your account has). They integrate with each other and with all the other MS suite.

      I like them much more than I did Trello, Asana, or Smartsheet.

   9. Thank you all!

   10. I love Airtable for project planning. It lets me add attachments and links to relevant docs. I can share easily with others and control permissions. And I can download quickly to get things in Excel if need be. You can do a lot with the free version. Not sure if it’s paid or free version, but you can even set reminder email triggers to automatically go out, which makes chasing folks a breeze. The bar for learning is super low, especially with their pre-built templates.

9. I’m watching the Pitt and a bit behind (we just finished 1:00) (so no spoilers, please) but — is this “patient satisfaction” thing really a concern for ERs? Like I don’t doubt it, but I feel like it would 99.8% come down to the waiting room experience, which in the show the admin keeps brushing off. But if you’re waiting forever, with a lot of other sick, scared, grouchy strangers in pain, of course it’s going to stink. But who is polling these people coming out? Are people really choosing which ER they want to go to beyond which one takes your insurance?

   Also – would you really go to the emergency room for a medication abortion? And then even be taken back/given a room versus just being handed the pills at the desk?

   1. probably because the hospital gets paid more in part based on patient satisfaction

      1. Nope, this is not true at all. Patient satisfaction scores may help a hospital in contract negotiations with insurance companies, but that’s a long game, and honestly, no one has good scores in the ER.

   2. They don’t just plop pills over to give you an abortion at reception. You’d go to the ER because you don’t understand or have access to other options. And if they have space to have that conversation with you privately why wouldn’t they? Weird questions.

      1. R u watching the show? The lack of bed space is a constant discussion.

      2. Let’s not forget that there are growing OBGYN care deserts in the US now, not to mention that the right has been fighting places like Planned Parenthood for decades. Women might not have any options to get a quick OBGYN appointment other than the ER.

         I’d be very surprised if red state ERs aren’t completely overwhelmed now. Even for something as minor as a yeast infection, people just don’t have other medical care options to be seen quickly somewhere reasonably close to where they live.

      3. The abortion. Storyline was insane and so factually wrong.

         All that drama and the aunt could have just driven the girl to nj where there is no parental involvement requirement. Or girl could have sourced medication abortion from the valid online pharmacies.

   3. Based on what I know of friends who are ER docs and nurses, the customer service metrics they are judged on (especially in the corporate/HCA hospitals) are almost exactly the same as for retail workers. To the higher ups, it’s as much a customer service job as practicing medicine.

      1. I’m not sure the higher ups even know that much about practicing medicine.

   4. A lot of people go to the ER for all kinds of things. My understanding is that there’s a twisted incentive since EMTALA means that ERs have a hard time turning away patients for not being able to pay if there’s any possibility of a real emergency condition (which can’t really be excluded without doing any kind of exam).

      1. It’s also a massive issue that people can’t get timely appointments with their PCPs or specialists. If you have concerning symptoms and an appointment is 3 months out at least, then yeah, you’ll be going to the ER.

         1. The five day work week is also a huge issue since a lot of interventions that would be outpatient on MWTRF require an ER visit and a hospital admission on the weekend.

         2. Urgent care is so much faster. And you can get an appointment.

            1. +1

               Urgent care facilities are exploding in my area (Chicago). Huge chains are spreading that are funded by the major hospital systems. They are much easier to get in and perfect for less urgent issues.

               But in the inner city, in places where there are many patients on Medicaid, Medicare or without insurance or without transportation to get to urgent cares, the large County hospitals carry a higher burden.

      2. Not to mention the fact that PCPs routinely send people to the ER for things that don’t really need the ER. Twice in one year I had family members sent to the ER by primary care for imaging that should have been available in a standalone outpatient facility. It was expensive and wasteful and stressful.

         1. That is incorrect. They were sent to the ER because if the imaging found something serious, there were doctors right there to act on it. And also the PCP knew they were out of their depth and wouldn’t know how to react on an imaging finding even if BY MIRACLE there was a walk-in, decent quality imaging facility that took your insurance that was available within hours. And often the outpatient imaging facilities do not have radiologists reading the scans immediately onsite and calling the doctors either.

            It’s very easy to say, in retrospect, “I should have never gone to the ER” when your doctor told you to. But I suspect you aren’t a doctor, and your doctor was using their clinical judgment based on your history/exam/risks and their experience with how serious your condition might be.

            1. Thank you. Am doctor. No, I can’t manage the potentially life-threatening flare up of your disease over the phone between other patients.

   5. lol you really think they’re just going to hand over pills for anything at the front desk?

      1. FWIW I went to the ER a few years ago with a wild fever, cold sweats etc. I ended up sobbing at the reception and they gave me pain meds while I waited. Less than an hour later I was getting a spinal tap.

         1. Right, but that clearly was not the end of your visit.

   6. People absolutely choose which ER they want to go to. They are not all the same. I wouldn’t go to the one closest to my house because it sucks. For my mom in cancer treatment, we may go to an ER associated with the hospital system she is getting her cancer treatment from rather than the other big hospital system here. Maybe we don’t choose a particular hospital in the system because it’s harder to get a bed. For example, one of the suburban hospitals in the area closed so now the hospital closest to it handles way more patients. Or the city hospital she was in last time, she spent days in the ER hallway before getting a room, and then a few more days still in the ER because the oncology floor was full.

      1. In my city there are a bunch of “free standing ERs.” The joke is that a better description would be “stationary ambulance” because they’re very limited in what they can do but are also unable to transport patients to a real hospital.

         1. My friend who is a nurse manager says never to go to one of these. They exist purely to funnel patients to the main hospital via an expensive ambulance ride.

   7. Going anon for this one, but I’m an administrator for an emergency department in a large healthcare system in a HCOL city. (I have not yet watched the Pitt, but plan to.)

      Patient satisfaction scores in emergency medicine are pretty useless, because the only patients who choose to complete surveys are either really happy (rare) or really upset. There is so little that the doctors can control, so we don’t put much stock in the surveys.

      It is a privilege to choose which ER to go to, but some people have the option. Some smaller, suburban ERs have the ability to show wait time online. That’s not possible where I am, but nice for the people nearby. Often, patients are choosing their ERs based on the reputation of the hospital and/or where their established doctors have privileges. If you’re in an ambulance, however, you have little to no choice where you are taken.

      And ultimately, people come to the ER for any and every problem. And because of EMTALA, they must be evaluated and stabilized. We see everything from worried parents bringing their baby because he made a weird face to the classic tv story of someone in cardiac arrest being wheeled in with someone on top of them on the stretcher performing CPR.

      1. Yup. My doctor sends me to the ER for all sorts of stuff that is not so urgent that I need an ambulance to the nearest ER. So I choose to go to the best hospital in the city which also has great customer service.

   8. I’ve chosen which emergency department to go to based on being able to check online what the wait is like. Not every time – when my baby needed to go the ED, we just went to the children’s hospital regardless – but when a member of my family was in serious pain but not, like, actively bleeding out, for sure.

   9. I have chronic migraines. If I needed after hours care for a migraine which would require massive IV steroids and pain meds, I would choose the ER in my city with the shortest wait time. I couldn’t go to urgent care because many urgent cares can’t provide those level of medications.

      This isn’t the case with the Pitt but people in more rural areas who have to drive to an ER anyway might choose based on where they want to be admitted if everything is inconvenient anyway.

10. Without fail, my skin always looks ROUGH during seasonal transitions. April is no exception, and I don’t think the pollen count is helping matters. I’m already taking allergy meds and have a solid skincare routine but my face still looks ruddy and irritated.

    1. This is the time for bronzer.

    2. Re-examine the skin routine. I switched to a softer routine and that has made all the difference in the world. I use Ponds to remove make up and double cleanse with a gentle cleanser and then vitamic c once a week. Under my foundation, I wear a face oil. Repairing the skin barrier really is a thing. No more redness and my skin is glowing.

       1. Know of any dupes for Ole Henrikson facial cleaning wipes in the brightening/truth orange packaging line?

       2. Yeah I had the same issue and just moisturized a lot lot more than I usually do and that fixed it.

11. This is just idle musing on a rainy day, I’m not looking for legal advice. When an employee falls for one of those email scammers – hey this is your boss I’m traveling and need iTunes gift cards ASAP send me the card numbers now – does the company have to pay them back (this assumes the employee used their own funds and didn’t have access to a company card)? I know companies should have insurance for this sort of thing, but what if they don’t?

    1. No.

    2. That would be such a small claim, insurance would be N/A. Cyber insurance is expensive and mostly covers breaches, not small time social engineering. Where insurance might get involved is the huge scams where tens of thousands or millions of dollars are sent to fraudulent accounts.

       As someone whose work responsibilities include creating and delivering cybersecurity awareness training for employees, I dont think the company would or should reimburse…that’s learning money, and the employee won’t make the same mistake twice!

       1. My company sends fake phishing emails to each employee a couple times per year. If you click on the phony link in the email you get redirected to security training. I doubt they would reimburse an employee who sends money to a scammer

    3. Absolutely not. And no companies do not have insurance for that kind of thing. It’s a scam. I handled compliance for my prior company and there were these kinds of things and also recruiting scams. The company has no legal liability, but does sometimes get called upon by law enforcement to confirm that the company wasn’t actually involved.

    4. They should seek recourse through their own credit card used to purchase the gift cards.

    5. Most companies have policies about purchasing. I would think that even if it were legit, purchasing something in this manner would not be permitted by many companies.

       1. This is where we would land. We have expense policies for a reason; purchasing & sending gift cards to a scammer would mean the employee skirted around the policies in multiple different ways and they would be liable for that expense themselves.

    6. Yes, in my experience, the company pays the employee back (but they might also get fired depending on how gullible they were).

       1. Yes, when one of our law clerks fell for a scam like this, we reimbursed him. But he did not get hired.

    7. I have way too many questions.

       1. What training does the company have around cybersecurity?

       2. How was the company breached? How did the hackers know to contact the employee and know who the boss is?

       3. Was the contact from company-approved avenues, i.e., did they hack the boss’ company email, or did they send it from some random Gmail address?

       4. What are the specific company policies regarding reimbursement for payments? What are the company policies regarding reporting of these issues?

       5. Any other factors at play?

       If the boss’ email were hacked and the employee had to send Visa gift cards, I would think that’s on the company to reimburse. This is especially true if the employee followed any applicable reporting protocols. The further you get from that (external email, asking for iTunes gift cards because that’s silly, boss was not on travel that day, etc), the more I think it’s on the employee.

       1. Re. #2, for many employers that is not difficult. At two different orgs I’ve gotten many of these scam messages purporting to be from the president of the org. All of the staff e-mail addresses are in the on-line directory, so it’s not exactly rocket science.

       2. I think it’s usually spoofed rather than hacked.

          1. I know for a fact it’s usually spoofed. Companies with more mature Cybersecurity programs have anti-spoofing tech in place, or warning banners about external emails, but it’s very, very easy to spoof an email address.

             1. My MOH accidentally (sorta?) spoofed my email and created a lot of confusion for herself. She made an email account just for bridal shower RSVPs. But she set the name as my name. And kept emailing “me” (herself) things for the shower/b-party/etc. and wondered why I wasn’t getting back to her. She finally changed the name on the account.

       3. cybersecurity training poster above and I agree overall, but re 2: it’s super easy to find this information on LinkedIn or from publicly available sources.

          I am always baffled if worker bee #7 thinks for a second the CFO of our F100 company would message him on WhatsApp. *sigh*

    8. FYI – For this specific iTunes scam, if you are an Apple customer they are refunding the cost. You need to provide the details of where they were purchased etc…

12. I wore this shirt in high school. Same collar and slightly puffed short sleeve.

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