Suit of the Week: McQueen

88 Comments

1. Really basic homeownership question. I live in Greater Boston. Our 1960s vintage house has wood siding and the paint is flaking off pretty badly, and also suddenly. We bought three years ago and started to notice paint chips/flaking off about 9 months ago but it’s exponentially worse since this last winter, it seems. Some of the wood boards are warping – not terribly so, but if you look you can see a handful across the face of the house.

   What’s the norm these days for siding? I know I could just repaint the whole house and replace the warped boards, but is this an opening for an upgrade? Does one replace wood siding with some new manufactured material or is wood, with sufficient maintenance, the gold standard? I’ve owned two different homes for more than 10 years now but never had to address siding or exterior painting. House faces directly south and gets direct sun all day, err’ day, fwiw. Thanks!

   1. HardiPlank is the gold standard if you want to start over.

      1. And spend a gazillion dollars. Several years ago it was going to be $40K for our very small house in a much cheaper location.

         OP, I’d look into having the paint and soil tested for lead.

         1. Correct James Hardie siding is very expensive but there are plenty of fiber cement siding options without the name brand. I had my house resided with Ascend composite siding and paid about half the price the price. It’s the exact same look.

   2. Do you know when your home was lash painted? Cedar should be painted every 5ish years to stay in good condition. We have a cedar and stone house and I just couldn’t bring myself to pay for Hardiplank when I don’t know how long we’ll be here, so we’re currently replacing some rotted/woodpeckered pieces and painting.

   3. Where in greater Boston? Are you in a market with higher end (old 1960s) homes?

      You have a few options:
      1) have the whole house scraped and painted. A good painter will let you know which board need repair. You might have moved into a house with a cheap/bad paint job done right before the house sold. We recently had our home painted and it has a 5 year guarantee. This is a $8-15k project depending on how big and how damaged your home is.

      2) replace the boards with in kind (I’m assuming cedar plank). This works in certain places but if it’s pervasive you may need to re-side entirely. If that’s the case then you are looking at:

      3) cedar siding or Hardiplank (or one of its main competitors).. Either way assuming you have a 2500sq ft+ home you are looking at 25-60k+.

      We live in a western Boston burb and put a big addition on our home built in 1960. We scraped and painted the main part and did the addition in Hardi.

   4. We did Hardie and it’s stood up really well. I don’t know if we will ever need to replace it.

   5. it sounds like water damage to be so sudden. make sure you look underneath it get an inspector to investigate

2. I’m going to Costa Rica and need sandals for hiking in the rain. Something that will protect my toes, but that also won’t trap water and dry easily. What are my options besides Keen? Or should I just stick with Keen?

   1. Teva? I have open toe Tevas that I fondly refer to as my “lifeguarding sandals” and they are great for drying off quickly. I do see they have some closed toe options.

   2. if you want toe protection then yes keens. otherwise chacos

   3. I do not like Keens for hiking. Dirt and rocks and sticks get into the sandals and then get trapped. For hiking in the rain I prefer waterproof hiking boots or trail running shoes.

   4. Merrill also makes a few very minimal trail shoes that would fit the bill.

   5. Costa Ricans wear rubber rain boots. I wore waterproof hiking boots.

   6. Thanks all! I do have waterproof hiking boots but was told they’ll get wet anyway and will be a pain to dry. Also have open toe Tevas, but have only used them on easy walks so wasn’t sure if they’ll do okay on harder trails. Might just bring what I have and make do with them.

      1. Do you have gaiters to keep water from soaking in to the linings at the top?

3. Low-stakes debate: are you team hard or soft-side suitcase? I can’t decide! I bought two 21” carry-ons, one hard and one soft, and I need to return one.

   Pros of hard: aesthetically pleasing, feels sleeker, more modern look
   Pros of soft: you can stack more things because you’re working with one large packing space instead of two equal halves, you can probably stuff a bit more in because the exterior is flexible

   Related: sell me on your favorite carry-on!

   1. Hard. You can compress a lot in there and it never bulges so much that you can’t fit it in the overhead. Also lighter weight, usually.

      1. Mine is Tumi by the way. I used to have a 75% travel schedule. I wouldn’t carry any other brand.

   2. I am on Team Soft because I vastly prefer having one large compartment. Less floor space when traveling and living out of it. I use packing cubes to help with organization and compression as needed.

   3. For carryons I prefer hard. Them being smaller is a feature, not a bug as it forces me to pack less/pack smarter. For driving vacations with family we have a giant soft sided TravelPro that we stuff to the gills (I can pack for 3 people for a week with just that one suitcase) and it is nice to be able to haul just one bag into the Air BnB/hotel vs. 3 carry-ons and 2 medium suitcases plus a shoe bag.

      1. I have an eastpak rolling duffle which is my whole family travel bag, and a eastpak backpack which is fine for almost a week for me.

   4. Hard for sure.

   5. Hard sided if using as a carry on, soft (well, a duffel or backpack TBH) for travel that does not involve flying.

   6. Soft that can be expanded is great for weekends that might involve shopping.

      I like a small luggage model backpack for the tiny propeller planes, but a generous soft case for narrow jets.

      Hard for me is more for big bulk items.

   7. Hard for plane travel, soft overnighters not suitcases for car travel. I love my away bag – with the compression I get more in there than I ever did in a soft sided suitcase.

4. Seeking help from the hive as I try to figure out my eyes, the pandemic has really done a number on them. Pre-pandemic, I’d had the same mild prescription (maybe 20/80 vision?) for about 15 years. I was having pretty bad headaches and eye fatigue so I went to the optometrist in December. She said I have astigmatism in both eyes and gave me new contacts. I think I have now tried every astigmatism lens out there – they are uncomfortable and I still feel like my vision is off and I’m battling near-daily headaches. I’ve been back to this doctor 3x and it’s still not right. She wants to help, but I’m ready for another opinion. Is an ophthalmologist the answer here? Has anyone done lasik or other surgery for astigmatism?

   1. Glasses?

      1. Sorry, I should have mentioned. I got a pair of glasses that are marginally better than the contacts, but still not quite right. I like to wear contacts daily so I can wear sunglasses when driving and blue-light-blockers at the computer. The glasses were very expensive, I don’t want to adjust the prescription until I’m certain we have it right.

         1. I have astigmatism, prescription sunglasses, and glasses with a built-in blue light blocker.

   2. I have terrible vision and severe astigmatism and the answer is…glasses. Contacts for astigmatism are really uncomfortable.

      1. When I was a teenager, they gave me regular contacts (not for astigmatism). I loved them. I stopped wearing contacts for a few years due to cost. When I went back, they would only give me the astigmatism ones. So I wear glasses unless I am playing a sport that would break glasses, then I just suck it up.

   3. I am very very sensitive to vision correction and expect perfection. Lots of people are not like us and are happy with good enough. I just had to find the right optometrist, which involved online reviews, friend recommendations, and unfortunately, trial and error. Now that I’ve found him, I will never go to anyone else. He just really takes his time for my exam and gets it jjuuuuust right.

      An Opthamologist is not the answer. They’re not going to do your eye exam, they usually have an optometrist do that if they offer the service at all, and I will just say my worst recent prescription was from my Opthamologist’ in-office optometrist.

      1. I am the same. You need an optometrist who will work with you to meet your standards and won’t get annoyed with your perfectionism. Every optometrist I’ve ever seen has also said that contacts for astigmatism will just never be as good as glasses. Manufacturers don’t produce every possible combination of regular correction x astigmatism correction, so it’s always a case of finding “good enough” or “least bad” because it will never be perfect. I have my contact prescription optimized for one purpose and just use glasses in other situations.

         How old are you? With the glasses, it may be time for progressives or at least the EyeZen reading correction. My optometrist says people with astigmatism tend to need an extra reading correction much earlier than others, as early as 40-ish.

         I would never get lasik because my prescription changes drastically every year, so I’d assume that surgery would only be effective for a short time.

   4. I would suggest 1) wearing glasses for two weeks to see if the headaches improve, 2) wearing blue light blockers (the research is meh as I understand, but I went through a major headache period with similar issues and this was part of what worked for me – if nothing else, my $30 zenni prescription pair had a placebo effect, 3) make sure you’re drinking water and eating well, and then only after the headaches disappear, start wearing contacts for half days. Try pairs for 2-3 weeks before giving up, but if headaches come back, revert to glasses again for 2-3 days before switching pairs. Also monitor your head muscles – I didn’t realize it but to compensate for eye pain and headaches I was tensing my temples, which made the headaches worse.

      Also 4) if needed – switch eye doctors. Like dentists, a lot of their advice depends on their experience, training, CE, billing, and tools. Not knocking your person. But I’d do 1-3 first, especially if they want you in prism lenses. And 5) if they do prescribe super expensive contacts or glasses, ask what the return policy is. My eye doctor said if the lenses are more than $X and I didn’t improve within 90 days, I could exchange them for a different pair of prescription lenses between day 91-180 at no cost. I think this depends on your insurance plan (both vision and medical) and the doctor.

      Good luck!

   5. An ophthalmologist will be able to determine if there is a larger medical problem; I’d go for it. I would pursue surgery only as a last resort.

   6. Only go to an ophthalmologist if you have reason to think there’s something medical going on. Optometrists are much better at dealing with tricky prescription issues. I have mild astigmatism but have never bothered with the contact lenses because they’re so uncomfortable and hard to get right- if they don’t sit correctly in your eye, they won’t correct your vision properly, so it sounds like this is more of an issue with contacts than with your prescription. I also prefer contacts, but it might be worth trying glasses for a while. You can use a blue light blocker for your screen, like f.lux, instead of wearing blue light glasses, though the sunglasses thing is still a pain.

      Also, are your issues primarily with computer work? Are you getting old enough that this could be the beginning of presbyopia? You might actually need a different prescription for computer stuff than distance. And if nothing helps, make sure they test your binocular vision. You might have convergence insufficiency or another condition that affects the way your eyes work together.

      1. This is not universally true. I have horrible vision, bad astigmatism, and a scar on my eye that requires me to wear hard contacts. The only person I found that can fit them is an opthomologist. He actually specializes in vision correction for severe astigmatism.

   7. I switched to glasses full time because I kept getting headaches in contacts when I’m on the computer all day. I sucked it up and bought prescription sunglasses ($300 at warby parker for the super fancy lenses that I need). I still wear contacts on the weekends and it’s fine, but I feel like I need reading glasses if I’m on my phone too long in them.

   8. If the issue is astigmatism, (a) lasik may or may not help, and (b) you may want to try hard contacts. While less comfortable, they will reshape your eye and improve vision more than soft contacts.

      1. Interesting! I was reading along and thinking, I wore contacts from the age of 15 to late 40s (when I got fed up with contacts+reading glasses and just switched to progressive lenses). I have an astigmatism, although I don’t think it’s severe, and one eye is about -6 and the other about -3.5. I always had rigid gas permeable lenses because soft ones didn’t correct my vision well, and I had trouble with dry eyes. But the contacts, when I wore them and before I got the old-age farsightedness, worked just fine.

   9. Have you ruled out other causes for the headaches?

   10. My vision is 840 with severe astigmatism. I have good news and bad news for severe astigmatism correction, and the answer is the same for both: rigid gas permeable contact lens, which is the modern version of the old hard contact lens. There would be a break in period with moderate to severe discomfort, while you get used to them and the skin inside your eyelids toughens up. You also have to really be on top of things that make your eyes swell, such as no crying and controlling allergies. The genuinely good news is that they are relatively inexpensive, last forever with good care, and should result in really sharp vision. Seriously, it’s much sharper than with glasses. I can’t compare to soft contact lens as soft lens do not correct my vision.

   11. I have astigmatism and have found the only thing that helps me is not correcting for it at all in the glasses/lenses. My brain is better at handling the astigmatism than the corrected lenses.

       But – for me it only works if my dominant eye is allowed to be dominant. If the non-dominant eye get a «sharper» correction, the astigmatism helps to make me feel like in a permanent hall of mirrors.

   12. Try to find an eye doctor who is also doing vision therapy, if possible specialists for brain injury. I had severe concussion from a car accident which caused various issues with the eyes which only went away with vision therapy. Unfortunately it’s not covered by insurance.

   13. Not sure how to say this, but go to a doctor to rule out anything more serious. A friend has vision problems and headaches and only very late did she discover it was brain cancer. I’m not saying it is, and I’m not in the medical field, but if you can I think it’s worth double checking.

5. I donated all my cobalt blue pieces during 2020. Loved the color, but thought it was Very 2007-2010.

   1. I actively hate this color (another idea why) but I think it will be making a comeback based on current trends and everything else 2007-2010 starting to come back.

   2. Cobalt screams “school spirit” color to me. Which can be a good or bad thing, depending on the circumstances.

   3. I have a friend who works in a super trendy and expensive boutique, and she says she’s refreshed by primary colors (like cobalt) because so much of what is always in the store is muted. Think salmon, taupe, mustard etc.

      Cobalt blue was the unifying concept of my mom’s entire home decor scheme in my house growing up, so maybe that’s where I got my appreciation for it? I have painted my exterior doors this color, and then noticed many other houses with the same look…

      1. A cobalt door on a brick house looks super classic and beautiful, imo.

         And I agree with your friend. Those warm, muted colors are NOT for me.

   4. I see this color, I think Duke.

      Take that however you want.

      1. For me it’s Kentucky.

   5. I love this color and it looks great on me so I will wear it in contemporary styles.

6. For those of you who have had your closets done by one of those closet companies, do you have all of your clothes out at once? Or just seasonal ones (I live where there are maybe 10 seasons, so would need at least 2/5 of my clothes out at any given time b/c it could be anywhere in a 40-degree swing of temps)? And then some Rubbermaid tubs in the basement? Or some elegant in-closet off-storage high cabinets for foldables? I finally have a space, maybe 4×10 feet, and could maybe have a small office / reading nook at one end if I don’t use it for all of my clothes (also currently spanning 2 sizes, depending on how many bad coping skills I’m using along with my iffy habits). But I don’t want to spend $$$ and then realize I’m doing it wrong (and of course, have yet to be in any neighbors houses since we moved in the pandemic). Ceilings are 9 feet, so could work on upper storage if that is what people do.

   1. if you are bringing in a pro, you should tell them your goals, and they will help you design a closet that achieves them. In your case that might be building in space for a slim ladder to make it easier to use the vertical space you have.

      My approach – all of my clothes fit in my closet and dresser. My seasonal change is limited to swapping my drawers of tshirts and shorts for sweaters, which alternate residence in a single plastic bin that lives above my dresses the rest of the time, and swapping where groups of items are on the rod (like, my lightweight tops and linen pants are rotated into the corner vs. jeans and turtlenecks).

   2. I have a flexible IKEA style system, and over time I’ve found that I like to have all the clothes I wear for work, evening or going out on hangers, apart from jeans (which have their own drawer). I know that all the clothes on hangers are nice, non-wrinked and ready to go. I’ve made changes over time to how much hanger space is for dresses, and how much is for separates.

      Nice t-shirts that I wear like tops go on hangers, and at home, workout or informal t-shirts are folded in drawers. This corresponds with my laundry, where all nice tops will hang to dry on hangers, and other stuff may go on a rack or in the dryer.

      I don’t keep bins with off-season, but I have some boxes of off-size favorites. I change where I hang clothes based on season though, the on-season stuff is in the most convenient place. In drawers, off season outdoor gear will be on the bottom or the most inconvenient place in the drawer.

7. Do you have a lemon layer cake recipe that you like? Ideally with a sturdier crumb that’s SUPER lemony.

   I just want some lemon cake and haven’t found a recipe that speaks to me yet.

   1. This is my go-to. You can always up the lemon zest: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-yogurt-cake-recipe-1947092

   2. https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/lemon-cornmeal-cake/

      This is so easy and fantastic. I use a whole lemon (zest and Juice) in the cake bc we’re lemon people and it’s not fussy enough to mess up proportions for baking.

   3. Thanks! I should have been clearer: I want a lemon layer cake, with lots of frosting.

   4. https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-cake/

      1. The lemon cream cheese frosting is really good, but you could also do a buttercream and flavor it with lemon zest and juice.

   5. I did this but with a cream cheese frosting (as I don’t like real, non-American buttercream) – the lemon curd layer and the lemon zest in the cake mix are what make it lemony. https://www.startribune.com/recipe-woody-s-lemon-luxury-layer-cake-baby-chocolate-oblivions/120789079/

      The same author has a lemon poundcake she is very proud of but I haven’t tried it. That should be very sturdy.

      1. PS – you can also use equal weight of whole eggs vs egg yolks in the cake; it will just be less yellow and maybe a tad less tender.

8. Talk to me about eyebrow products. Eyebrows are thinning, much more on one side than the other. I feel very Joan Crawford when I do it and own a bunch of pencils that are all the wrong color. I want to book some time at Sephora but want a sense of good products (pencils? Brush-applied stuff? Wand stuff?) that will look more natural. To me, brows are medium or dark brown, which is too vague and often get something too red. Ugh.

   1. Brows are now part of my everyday routine because I have dark and broad but sparse brows that I think look better with some enhancement. My current product is no longer available, but is what Sephora seems to call “brow pomade.” I apply it with a small, stiff brush.

   2. Revitabrow to help them fill in; 1000 hour to enhance the color.

   3. I use a basic Maybelline that is my favorite dupe for Benefit Goof Proof, which has a spoolie end and a pencil end. I find that the best way to make it look natural is to brush both before and after penciling.

   4. I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Gel and use it in Taupe which looks kind of medium brown, I think. I am very fair and it isn’t too dark on me. It’s applied like a mascara wand.

   5. Highly recommend Benefit’s gimme brow (better than any of their other brow products and a gold standard for a reason). It’s a brow gel you apply with a mascara-style wand. I do find that their shade finder leans too dark… I’m a dishwater blonde with dark eyebrows and I use shade 1, which is technically for blonde blondes but which I prefer to a darker shade. It’s a nice neutral taupe color. To avoid the reddish color problem, look for something that looks almost a bit grey or ashy in the tube or swatch. I’ve tried some drugstore products but keep going back to Gimme Brow because of the color and staying power.

      1. +1

      2. +1
         The gimme brow number 1 ashy blonde is great – one of the few that does not like red dirt on my brows.

   6. I prefer brow mascara. I find it easier to apply and it seems to last longer.

   7. Mascara-like stuff for the brows is great. I recommend both Glosser’s Boy Brow and The Anastasia brand of this kind of product. Use a pencil, if at all, to lightly fill in bare spots and not all the way out to the edge of your brow. I recently found myself off for the weekend minus my makeup bag and made a run to Walgreens for eye and lip basics. I remain delighted with the Pixi brand product that I got at the drugstore that has brow gel on one end and a soft pencil on the other. Whatever brand you choose, go with a color that is slightly lighter than you think you need.

   8. I like a brow gel. My favorite is Beauty Pie in Natural Brown. It’s a lot easier to feel natural with gel vs drawing on with a pencil.

      Long-term, I’m pretty happy with my microblading. I looked and looked and looked for someone who could do a really natural looking brow (no sharpie brows for me) and I found one by looking at reviews and then looking at her instagram photos. I still use my brow gel to keep the brow hairs I do have orderly, but the microblading has made a huge, huge difference.

      (for anyone interested in where I got mine done, it’s Oakland Glow)

9. I have about half a pound of salt pork just languishing in my freezer – any ideas for how to use it?

   1. I would haul out my mom’s old copy of the Little House Cookbook and try some recipes.

      Use it to flavor baked beans?

      1. Ooh that’s a good idea.

   2. Split pea soup is great with salt pork.

      Nordic or Baltic style root vegetable soup or bean stew as well. You might need to soak the meat a little to get some of the salt out before using the meat.

   3. Saute diced salt pork until it releases some fat. Add a diced onion, then a pound of dried blackeyed peas and enough water to cover everything x 2. Simmer for about 1/2 hour. Salt to taste. And that’s my new years day lunch.

   4. Beans. Good beans. Rancho Gordo beans. All the beans.

10. share your favorite silver sandals for summer? flat prefer no sling backs

    1. Born isla or Issa or something

    2. Bernardo has several flat, silver styles. Pricey but they last.

11. Ugh, I know it is late for posting but I need to vent.

    A junior colleague was recently removed from my projects (she was supposed to be learning enough to back me up in one area in a pinch, but it’s been a struggle to get her to participate and we finally decided to call it). She was also told she needs to start carrying her own weight on her remaining mainly clerical tasks, rather than leaning on me constantly for hand holding on such basic things. So basically half her job was removed from her plate and she was told to stop slacking off. She could have been put on a PIP or let go for this, but we decided to give her a chance to be an okayish worker bee at a lower level with no real prospect of career growth and she gladly took the opportunity.

    However. Today comes along and she seems to be trying to change the narrative from “stop playing dumb and asking OP to do your job for you or you are going to get fired” into “OP is being disciplined and now you’re the star employee!” She told several colleagues that are not privy to the details that I am not *allowed* to work in her area any more (I oversee her project area, have authority to set priorities for her team, and everyone knows this). She told them it is inappropriate for me to be involved in her tasks or to assign her work. She acts as though she has been promoted and I have fielded concerns from several very confused coworkers today.

    Her boss is out recovering from COVID fora few more days or it would have already been nipped in the bud. She will crash and burn hard as soon as her boss is back (and I’m absolutely making a giant bowl of popcorn for that show). In the meantime, I’m flabbergasted that an adult in a professional office can be so willfully obtuse as she is.

    1. She is terrible! Any colleagues who know your work even a little will almost certainly see straight through this nonsense, so comfort yourself that she’s just making herself look pathetic as well as incompetent and carry on.

    2. Come back and update us, I want to hear the ending!

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