Coffee Break: Initial Pinky Ring
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This pinky ring from David Yurman reminds me of the signet rings of yore.
It's 18-karat gold, and diamonds are arranged to depict your chosen initial. Lovely!
NET-A-PORTER has a lot of options in stock, but a few are sold out — they note that more sizes and initials are coming in stock soon. The ring is $1700-$1900 at NET-A-PORTER and David Yurman.
Looking for something more affordable? Catbird has a bunch of signet rings for $70-$2000+. Not necessarily more affordable, but Anna Sheffield also has a bunch of signet rings with very fun fonts for the intials.
Sales of note for 5/14/25:
- Nordstrom Rack – Looking for a deal on a Dyson hairdryer? The Rack has several refurbished ones for $199-$240 (instead of $400+) — but they're final sale only.
- Ann Taylor – Suit Yourself! 30% off suiting (ends 5/16) + 25% off your full price purchase (ends 5/18) + extra 60% off sale (ends 5/14)
- Talbots – 40% off all markdowns (ends 5/18) + 30% off dresses, skirts, accessories, and shoes
- Nordstrom – Beauty Deals up to 25% off (ends 5/17)
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Boden – 10% off new women's styles with code + sale up to 50% off
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything + extra 60% off sale + $1 shipping on all orders
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off long-weekend styles + 50% off select swim and coverups
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100+ + extra 20% off $125+
- M.M.LaFleur – Lots of twill suiting on sale! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Rothy's – Up to 50% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
i was just talking with someone who works in the strategy consulting division of a Big4 who has been working on an internal project focusing on how to use AI to make their engagements more efficient. they’ve determined a way to produce equivalent work in 1/4 of the time with 10% of the people. this is scary! has anyone seen any reductions in headcount at their employer due to AI?
As someone who is on the receiving end of consultants work those reports are shockingly bad. The AI can not properly grasp nuanced information. I’m sure the firms dont care though.
Also on the receiving end of AI generated presentations, and I can also confirm that it’s bad. It’s not more efficient because someone higher up has to spend more time fixing it.
Curious about how those of you on the receiving end handle this. Can you tell the consultants it sucks and they need to do better?
yes. something like “this deck needs to better highlight and communicate the critical information vs. context, please revise”
We provide requests for revisions but eventually give up and accept a cr@ppy product and revise it in house.
Equivalent work my aunt fanny. But if they don’t care about the quality, they didn’t care about the quality, so perhaps.
This is flat out false. I’m in a strategy consulting firm and while AI is making our new hires faster at doing scut work (sending out emails/reports faster) it isn’t eliminating their work.
Frankly a lot of what it is doing is replacing the support work that used to be done by IRL people and then was pushed onto lower level staff when staffing got leaner post financial crash. I started out in the late 90s/early 2000s and my firm used to have really good, senior secretaries and a lot of junior people who did the note taking/follow up memos/synthesizing. Now we still don’t get good assistants (till the partner level) or enough junior staff, but AI can refine my emails, take meeting notes for me, and then send around a deck with next steps.
I’m a lawyer and it’s a big concern for firms. We’ve seen the same pearl clutching with so many technologies, though, I’m not that concerned. Everyone thought that online case searching like Lexis (vs hard copy) would make research so much faster that we would barely need associates. That hasn’t been true, it just means we’re expected to do more thorough and exhaustive research. Predictive coding was supposed to eliminate the need for first level doc reviewers. That hasn’t happened either – the algorithms allow reviewers to be more focused and thorough but our doc review teams are still pretty massive. Idk if doc review-only shops are feeling the hit, but ime big firms aren’t. I think AI tools will continue to be just tools and not a replacement for a person. The expectations of the work product will just be higher because you can do more in the same amount of time.
I cosign all of this, and would also point to the scores of lawyers who have had sanctions ordered for citing made up cases, etc. There’s a world in which Gen AI is a tool, and you’re a dummy if you don’t learn how to use it, but I don’t expect reductions in our workforce. In fact, I just handled a case which was unfortunately twice as expensive for my client because our opposing party who was representing herself was using AI to generate “briefing”.
Agreed. I try to find ways to use it and often end up thinking “AI is not taking my job any time soon.” It makes some tasks more efficient, but it’s pretty far off from being able to actually replace a lawyer, especially litigation attorneys.
I agree with this. AI can be a tool, but it cannot (and I don’t think it ever will) substitute for the core competencies of lawyering. Most of the people who tell me they think AI will significantly downsize the need for lawyers during the lifespan of my career are not lawyers and have no real idea of what lawyers do.
I have received this work product and it is NOT equivalent.
Yeah as a professional writer I work with a lot of people who use AI for writing and think it’s great, but it’s obvious to me and reads terribly.
This one is going to be tricky for us because AI has a lot of inaccuracies, but we can’t hire anyone with any writing skills despite all of our best efforts. Pick your poison?
Ugh. Because kids are using ChatGPT for everything in school. We’re doomed.
My CV highlights writing skills, but it’s hard not to feel like they’re worthless now because it’s nothing AI can’t do!
If you can’t write better than AI, then you should not be bragging about your writing skills.
I think the problem is that hiring managers may not be able to tell, or care, if someone writes better than AI.
Anyone here can write better than AI, but surely that doesn’t mean the new option to get “good enough” writing from AI won’t affect the job market?
Anyone who claims that they can reduce headcount by 90% is either lying or admitting that their work product was always cookie cutter crap. I’ve worked on implementations using both predictive analytics and generative AI, and in all of them, you needed people babysitting the AI. It doesn’t replace people, just changes their work.
yup, it reminds me of the last set of consultants that were brought in, which offered somewhat generic advice, packaged in a lot of fluff. The main value was that they cost a good chunk of money, so the boss is actually invested in implementing some of the things to get his money’s worth. An AI could probably have provided very similar insights.
The AI generated Doge contract analyses were a joke.
I’m a communications consultant and I use AI for strategy and brainstorming. It isn’t going to replace us but in smaller shops (which there are many) it will help with tasks that frankly don’t get done because there aren’t enough staff. People may say that AI can replace their writing, but it isn’t updated frequently enough to know cultural cues which really drive a lot of campaign work.
Trigger warning: weight loss
I’ve lost over 50 pounds slowly, over two plus years. I received advice from my doctor (who is now retired) that weight loss is more sustainable when it’s done slowly. I had a history of yo yo dieting before this.
I’m really pleased, of course. But I could stand do lose another 20 (per BMI charts, which I know are controversial) and I’m stuck. I’m not sure I can realistically exercise more and eat less without some help.
I mentioned to my new primary care doctor, who believes in health at every size, that I was struggling to lose any more. I’ve been at current weight +/-5lbs for a year now.
She offered to prescribe me a weight loss drug. I asked if there was still a shortage and she said no. I said I heard it was a difficult adjustment and she agreed.
Would you do it? Other relevant facts: my most recent A1C is 5.7. All my other stats (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc) are great, and have been all along. I’m late 50s.
You’ll probably hear all kinds of opinions here, but at the end of the day there’s no way to know how your body will respond to it. I don’t really have any negative symptoms that I’m aware of so I would disagree it’s a difficult adjustment for everyone. The first week was kind of tough for me but that’s it. And if it is, you can just stop taking it, so what is there to lose? Although for every person with my story, there’s someone else with a bad experience.
Everybody here is going to tell you to take it.
I don’t think I would take the side effects for 20 pounds as long as your numbers are generally OK.
This is where I’m struggling (not the OP). I’m short, so it doesn’t seem like much, but I can remember how much I struggled while pregnant and I’m close to my max weight with that now. Tired knees. Tired hips. Just tired.
Not everyone has side effects particularly at lower dosages. I did not or they were very short lived.
I’d focus less on the weight than your numbers. 5.7 AIC is pre diabetic. I know you don’t think you can move more/eat less, but could you eat better quality? For my body, xx00 calories of junk food will lead to an A1C that is higher than xx00 calories of more nutrient dense foods. (And I find that a diet rich in more nutrient dense foods naturally leads my body to want a slightly lower xx).
In your shoes I’d probably maintain for a little while and see how you feel. Are you happy in your skin now? Are you able to exercise and move around like you want to? Do you struggle with portion sizes? Do you find yourself preoccupied with food? Is food a daily struggle or source of anxiety?
I’m short, muscular, and have broad shoulders and a large chest. The BMI chart says I should be at most 130 lbs. I haven’t been 130 lbs since I was a competitive athlete in hs. There’s no way I’m ever getting down to that weight in a healthy way, never mind maintaining that weight. BUT maintaining a weight I’m happy with has been really hard for me because my caloric needs are so low (1400 cal/day). It’s just not a lot of food and there’s zero margin for “error” meaning fun like birthday cake or an occasional glass of wine. I just want to live my life.
What I like about a semaglutide is that it allows me to feel satisfied on less food and it quiets the food noise. My goal isn’t weight loss, it’s to make it easier for me to maintain my weight. When I’m bigger, I find it harder to exercise like I want. My tummy gets in the way during yoga and when I’m lifting. My squats are all off balance. I tire more easily. Cardio is harder, heck walking up a flight of stairs is harder. Those are all the reasons I want to not gain. If I could maintain a comfortable weight without feeling like food is a daily battle, I would not be interested in a drug. I wouldn’t use it to try to get down to an unnatural to me weight.
20lbs in the abstract is hard to judge how much that puts you above the recommended BMI category. 20lbs is a smaller bump for a tall woman vs a petite woman.
Great to hear that your other indicators are solid. The main thing I worried about when I was overweight was joint health as knees/hips are so key to maintaining mobility and activity levels as we age. And activity levels are so key for avoiding dementia.
What is your waist circumference? That’s increasingly used to assess health risk as well. For example a normal BMI but high WC is the same risk level as an overweight BMI but lower WC. This is a good quick reference guide from Health Canada on the interrelationship of BMI and WC as a risk assessment tool – https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/migration/hc-sc/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/nutrition/cg_quick_ref-ldc_rapide_ref-eng.pdf
Do you strength train? I would look into working with a trainer to do a “bulk” – you eat more calories to lift heavier weights and gain muscle. It’s going to be hard to do if you’ve been in diet mode for a long time but it’s the best way to gain more muscle, especially at your (our) age.
A+, that’s going to be far better for your joints than further dieting to try and take those 20 lbs off.
No. I would stop struggling to lose 20lbs and focus on maintaining your weight and enjoying your achievement for a while
Late 50s? Continue to eat healthy and focus on developing muscle. Have your hormone levels checked; menopause does a number on a woman’s ability to lose weight.
I feel like you have worked hard to lose the 50 lbs so why not take the meds and see if you can lose the final 20. You are talking about a total of 70 lbs not just 20 lbs. Plus, you are right in the menopause age where it is almost impossible to lose weight without help.
I vote do it!
I was in an incredibly similar position regarding weight loss process.
I took compounded trizeptide for approximately 12 weeks earlier this year and lost 20 pounds.
ZERO side effects. ZERO.
I was on the lowest dose the whole time.
Weened off the drug and have gained back 2lbs (so the 10% they talk about) but that’s fine.
I did it via one of those online pharmacies for $700 total out of pocket. (My insurance did not cover)
It was honestly the best thing that I’ve ever done for myself.
I cannot recommend it enough.
My office has been close to 80 degrees and muggy all day. Now that I’ve finished all my meeting for the day, they’ve fixed the AC and it’s finally a comfortable temperature. But I feel sticky and gross because I’ve been sweating all day. I can wfh, I don’t have a supervisor or anything, but I usually stay until at least 4 (in 1.5 hrs) to set a good example. Permission to go home early?
Permission granted. And please grant similar permission to those within your sphere of influences.
Granted!
Of course! Whatever you’re being an example of won’t be thrown off by one day, and whomever you’re setting an example for has seen your usual work habits by now.
Set a good example by going home.
I would have gone home hours ago.
Go home, if only for me – my office is routinely 80 degrees in the afternoons and I can’t work from home. I will live vicariously through you and your blessed AC.
Random tech question — In the Gmail app is there a way I can get it to stop telling me a package is going to be delivered? I know that, Gmail, I read the very same email you did to find that out.
Yes–under settings, click your email address, then scroll down to Google Workspace smart features and you’ll see “Package Tracking.” Uncheck it.
Thank you!!!
Came across this comment in this morning’s discussion about vaccines:
1968 was 57 years ago. Since this is a place for working age people, I would imagine there are very few people here that that language applies to, but that’s why I said “most adults.”
Is 57 really considered that old in terms of being working age? I’m pretty shocked by that, both my parents kept working into their early 70s (although my mother cut back on her time a lot and my dad had his own small business).
That comment came across as rather naive and ageist to me.
Statistically speaking, yeah, more of the population (“most”) is younger than that. To cry ageism at that comment is absolutely flipping ridiculous. Boomers are truly the snowflake generation.
The last boomer was born in 1965.
It’s not even a little bit ageist to imply that it’s some weird rare thing for someone who’s 57 to still be working?
I take the point below that not all people get to work as long as they want. But it seems a bit off to assume that most people over 55 are not working.
Also, we 57-year-olds are Gen X not Boomers, so refocus your bias. Not that we really care.
Yeah it’s very disconnected from reality to suggest that most people stop working before they hit 57. Most people can’t afford to do that. I know I couldn’t! And plenty of my colleagues are in my age group (late 50s.)
Omg you guys don’t know what the word “most” means?
MOST people are still working at 55ish years old according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So yeah, we do know what most means.
And MOST of the commenters here are not over the age of 57.
The comment doesn’t say most 57 year olds aren’t working. It says most commenters here are not in the group that would’ve been vaccinated between 1963-1968. I really struggle to see how that’s controversial.
I’m 55 and I have teens. Granted, I have some peers who are grandparents. But it will be at least 10+ years more for me of working, since they will be in college soon and I won’t be eligible for Medicare until 65. No pension, just 401k. I get that pensions, etc., moves the needle a bit for some types of professions.
I missed the discussion but that gives me shades of Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) saying that women over 50 wouldn’t care about abortion because “I don’t think it’s an issue for you.”
But yeah – 59 is the absolute earliest most people can access most retirement funds so most people work until then. The earliest you can take social security is 62, but a lot of people wait until 70 to take social security.
but also! my parents, my aunts, my inlaws — if I had married a slightly older man — their health concerns are all in my wheelhouse also.
this resonates with me. We discuss all kinds of things here, and pretending that 59 years puts you somehow out of the realm of relevance is hilarious.
The average life expectancy for men in the US is 75 right now. Now, it’s higher for women and the odds improve if you are currently 60 or 65 that you will live longer than that. But still, this idea that the average person will be in good enough health to work through their early 70s is almost magical thinking when you look at the population statistics.
I feel like there is an OD death rate and other chronic unmanage health conditions (e.g., T2D) anchor dragging down this average. If you know your family history, you may well expect to go to 85+ (based on a current generation making it to that with no gym exercise (just ADLs), cooking with lard, and second-hand smoke (if not first-hand smoke), and statins only in the past 35ish years. My retirement funding is based on living to 95, because it seems to be in my genes.
I am 58. According to the Social Security Administration, based on my age and gender, I can expect to live to 86 (and that does not take into account lifestyle or health factors). If I was 38, I could expect to live to 85.6. You cannot take the population level averages as determinative. There is nothing overly optimistic about someone now in their 30s or 40s thinking they can work into their 70s as long as they have a job that is not physically demanding.
I am still working and expect to work until 70 unless life intervenes to prevent it (most likely elder care). This is partly because of finances (if I live into my 90s like every other woman in my family I will need the money) and partly because retirement does not really appeal to me.
What people hope to do and what they actually end up doing are often wildly different. I hope to retire as close to 62 as humanly possible (I work to live, not live to work). Others hope to work for many years past that whether or not they need the money.
Being able to work as long as we want and retire when we want is more of a crapshoot than most of us want to admit.
This is a significant driver of homelessness in the US.
I think it really depends on the industry/career. At my law firm, there are plenty of attorneys who are late 60s or early 70s who are still working. Those who would leave at 57 are rare – either independently wealthy or have health issues. But I suspect in blue collar jobs, it’s not uncommon to retire earlier. It’s harder to do manual labor. And in many union or pension jobs, you would hit your years of service number before 57.
I made that comment. People did not get vaccinated at age 0 in the 50s/60s, so it’s at least 57 plus the age at which they were vaccinated, and 1968 was the last year the ineffective vaccine was offered. A person who got vaccinated in 1965 at age 5, for example, is currently 65 and beyond retirement age.
In any event, people in that age range probably already have received an updated immunization given that the CDC has recommended one for a very long time now. And most importantly, there’s no reason to draw titers for them, either; they’d just get the jab again.
There are more working age people who are 56 or younger than working age people who are 57 or older. Because 56-22=34 which is greater than 65-57=8.
Can someone recommend a big straw hat for summer? Something “hypoallergenic”, if that even exists?
I seem to have become allergic to the hat I wore last year. After wearing it for a couple hours in the heat recently, I developed small blisters on my forehead where the inner band was touching my head.
if it was a good hat you can probably remove the inner band fabric and replace it with something that’s better for you. it may just be that it was dirty from last year’s sweat?
or sunscreen or hair products that has gone off?
Anyone else here allergic or sensitive to adhesive? I had a surgical procedure and the dressing was absolutely driving me crazy. When they took it off there was a bright ring of “allergic dermatitis” where the adhesive was.
Then they replaced that with steri strips, which were somewhat less itchy but still drove me crazy for a couple of days until I couldn’t stand it anymore (like I woke myself up scratching in the middle of the night) and I finally had to rip them off.
If you have this issue, how do you avoid adhesives in situations like this?
ooh following with interest; I have these allergic reactions to adhesives, too! I usually just wrap wounds with gauze and wrap, but not sure what the best procedure is for surgery…
My dermatologist said this is one of the most common sensitivities. Whether it is a true allergy, you don’t know unless you get patch testing done with a dermatologist.
It turns out that the chemicals used in adhesives are pretty much toxic to skin for everyone to some degree, if you leave it on long enough. So you should only keep them on your skin for as long as absolutely necessary. If you are particularly sensitive, have them list it as an allergy in your medical record (and specify exactly what your response is – like itching/redness, or blistering and bleeding if that is the case) and ask for paper tape whenever possible. You can also take over the counter anti-histamines to decrease the itchiness.
This makes sense to me. The first day seems fine but then it gets worse and worse.
Twice now I’ve worn a zio patch (stick-on heart monitor) for 14 days and it was absolutely miserable by the end.
+1 to all of this. I always tell providers I’m allergic to the adhesive and they usually will break out the paper tape. Changing and moving the bandage around frequently so the adhesive isn’t in the same place for too long can also help. I have no issues with blister pads but regular bandaids can cause more of an injury than what they were used to cover up.
Yes, I had a very minor procedure recently and the itching from the plaster was more annoying than the bruising from the biopsy. It’s relatively mild though so I usually try to strategically redress it (like if I have a dressing where the sticky is left-right over the wound I will the next day do one that’s up-down over it). Light antiseptic cream where it’s red and it usually fades after a day or so.
Have you tried Saniderm or similar? My skin gets red/itchy/irritated from band-aids but I don’t get a reaction from saniderm.
With long, oversized, or double-breasted blazers (or ones that are all of the above), how can you tell if they fit? They all seem to be ill-fitting, even if a bit oversized. How do you even know with these? My eye is used to 2019 suiting, where there was too tight, sleeves too long, and “just too big / not tailored to the body” as concepts.
what is the best to-do list app for the adhd brain (ie a million thoughts pinging in all at once and then you procrastinate on all of them an unconscionably long time?)
All of them are kryptonite for my ADHD brain. What works is writing tasks on post-its and then putting a post it on the wall in front of me and working on it and only it until it is done. Then pick the next post it out and work that task to completion.