The advice thread for random problems #4

[littlepup]

Last Thursday I started with stomach pain, took painkillers, didn’t ease it so took some indigestion tablets thought maybe had trapped wind, again didn’t go off, took more painkillers when got home but still in pain, rang 111 they said to go to a&e, felt like wasting time so tried to sleep, rang 111 again about 2.30am Friday morning still in pain just above my hip bone & below my ribs (right side) I then got a shooting pain in my chest, so an ambulance was sent to me about 6am, my stomach was so tender to touch, chest still ached, was taken to hospital I was seen & scanned found I have gallstones, given co-codamol & sent on my way, biggest stone was 1.8cm plus had 2 smaller ones then loads of little ones, I’m still in pain now with what feels like stitch, it hurts to walk, sneeze, cough, even breathing hurts plus my back just aches too, it’s such a sharp pain, rang 111 again for some advice & my GP is going to call me tomorrow sometime in the day, it’s not my appendix that was removed nearly 30yrs ago. Any advice would be great.

Go to a&e, you could have acute Cholecystitis! https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acute-cholecystitis/

 

[Thank(space)you]

Does anyone have any advice how to stop over thinking something? Once I’ve got something in my mind I find it very hard to let go of, it can invade every part of my life and I end up making mistakes/not doing actual life because I have something going round and round in my brain

What about grounding techniques to bring you into the now

 

[littlepup]

Oh wow I didn’t realise there were videos like that on there. So glad we’ve not came across anything like that

Spoiler: Reply - off topic about kids and YT

Dbillions, the original primary colour singers get hundreds of millions of views, top 50 on YT I think, and I guess they’re harmless but it’s just so manic and loud. But with those kind of views there are tons of copy cat accounts which can be more bizarre. Roma & Diana get 10s of millions views and some of the messages are just not what you want to teach plus they’re spoiled as hell.

I don’t know what the hell was triggering it to come up but the other stuff on regular YT is plain weird, malicious or just absolutely no value for their little brains, fortunately not on YTkids though. We’d even get this little monkey dress up doing tricks! I know other people who were getting the exact same content for their kids so it must be something. Worth keeping an eye out for if your LOs use anyone else’s device that’s not got YT kids on.

 

[Snippysnips]

Have a look on you tube and see if you can see how to detach the cupboard door and tighten that.
You can buy replacement integrated units quite easy at curry’s and the rest. If they’re 14 years old it’d probably a better bet than paying to fix the machine if it’s more than the door dropping.

Thanks I'll have a look on there an see what I can do myself

 

[littlepup]

I feel like an ass but I don't know what to do? I've shortened this as it was quite long.

My partner's family have an event planned for tomorrow which has been booked since July. It's a Christmas event, most of partner's family are going. I was initially told it's an hour drive away, so agreed to go.

Got a message through yesterday in Whatsapp group to say it's a 2.5 hr drive each way, we are picking up some other family members on the way, stopping off for food, etc and then allowing plenty of time to get there. So we're setting off extra early
This has completely thrown me because I wasn't expecting to be in a car for 5 hrs and that's excluding the actual event.

For context, I really struggle with long car rides anyway as I have joint issues. I'm also currently pregnant, sickness has been horrendous, I've actually been off sick a couple of days from work this week as I've also caught a bad cold/fever in addition to all the fatigue etc that comes with pregnancy.) Despite this I was still willing to go as I'm over the cold.

But now, my main worry is actually our dog, who will be left for at least 9 hrs. The most she has been left before is 5 hrs. When we go out we set her up in a room with a camera so we can watch her remotely on our phones. But when we left her for that time, 5 hrs she was howling and became really distressed. 9 hours is just far too long for her to be left. She will be without water and food for that time as we don't have any automatic feeders or anything. I think it's cruel. She's trained to go to the toilet outside as well so she won't use puppy pads indoors.

None of my family live local (they're all at least 1.5 hrs drive away) but I've asked them if they can help, unfortunately none of them can dog sit as it's too short notice.
I've let the family know that I can't go but tbh I feel like an ass, they said they assumed we'd get a dog sitter. I feel really guilty, but they're being really dismissive, because they said she'd be fine on her own, and it's the only time they're meeting up for Christmas so I should go.
I feel really frustrated with my partner, bc when my family do events I always sort the logistics, so when his family has events he should really sort it out? We've always done it this way so I'm not sure why it's been left until now, unless he didn't realise how far away it was either.

To top it off our dog is reactive, wary of strangers. My partner suggested we get a dog sitter where she goes to their house but tbh I think this will be a disaster as it will be a strange house with strange people (strange as in she doesn't know them) and hasn't had time to introduce herself properly to them! We have considered having them over to us, but we've done this before and she withdraws/cries/doesn't eat until we get back.
What would you do? I am in such a huge mess.

First thing is I’d always leave a big bowl of water down, and they’d be ok with food only once a day, auto feeder or not but that aside, you’re right not to go. 9 hours alone is too long, the time for you in the car is too long
Possibly, If your dog tolerates car journeys, I’d suggest perhaps driving separately and taking them with you, take them for a big run before hand and let them sleep in the car while you don’t stay long or get a dog friendly hotel nearby if funds allow. But I still think it’s too long to expect a pregnant person to sit in a car, dog or not so they’re being unfair.

It might be worth think about some extra training or getting to know a local dog sitter now for when baby arrives in case you have to stay in a few days or have lots of visitors. My dog was my life for 11 years before baby but an emergency C section and cluster feeding meant I needed extra help when baby arrived.

 

[JadeyJ]

I literally came here to ask this question!
So glad it’s not just me.

I was getting a sweat on!

 

[Thank(space)you]

Tried and tested black mould removal please? And any gadgets for getting the mould in hard to reach places ie behind fridge freezer

 

[littlepup]

We didn’t use a swaddle so I’m afraid that wouldn’t have been useful for me and having a baby with sensitive skin a lot of the toiletries were unusable too.
People said get millions of muslins but we didn’t have a spitty baby so a lot went unused except the large ones as multi use blankets, Breast feeding cover etc. Clothes went unworn as we were given so many in tiny sizes then they didn’t grow into the bigger ones according to seasons. Baby books didn’t really get filled in as I was always chasing my tail.

Paying for Hello Fresh or something like that to provide a food service would be really helpful for mum. Maybe a subscription to a new mums app.
A really nice insulated cup would be good for mum, especially if she’s breast feeding.
For baby, we got a really gorgeous star wrap blanket and personalised baby towels which were great too.

 

[Justmechan23]

I brought a car last year and have driven it for the past year. My car insurance is due for renewal and when looking at quotes it had accidentally been clicked that I brought this car in February 2024. I went to change it to the correct information February 2023 and it bumped my premium up by a couple of hundred pounds! Shouldn’t it be lower since I’ve been driving the car longer? Because the age of the car hasn’t changed on the quote. It’s so expensive

 

[it’s not been changed?!]

Yep that's them so don't panic, I believe it's the larval stage that eat your stuff and these come out in the autumn when the eggs hatch. At the moment you'll see new adults emerging, make sure you kill them when you see them. There are sprays you can get on amazon and I've found them effective however I worry about my cat so I don't spray as much as I would want to if I didn't have pets.

how have they managed to get upstairs yes, I’ve bought some spray and it should arrive in the next few days. Am I going to have to cover my whole house?! Fortunately, I don’t have any pets. I’ve had them a while but only ever seen the odd one and killed it and thought it was just a regular bug. I hoovered yesterday and emptied it straight away.

 

[Piff paff puff]

When I’ve done it before they’ve just printed off the address label for me and stuck that and this other thing showing I’ve paid postage on it for me when they’ve come to the door to collect

Ok, sounds like they're separate then

 

[Merpedy]

How many interviews would people do for a very entry level position that only requires GCSE grades?

I’ve currently had an interview and a short assessment (which seemed like a completely new thing for them and was honestly very silly) and it sounds like they’re planning to invite me for another interview

I’m not sure if I’m overreacting by thinking it’s all a bit silly at this point, especially as they originally rejected me and then invited me back when they put the same advert back up - so I assume there’s a chance I’ll be competing with new applicants anyway. I currently have a job and attending these 30 minute interviews isn’t ideal

 

[stargirl23]

Those who’ve experienced chickenpox - how did it start? My little one has some red blister type raised spots on his shoulder and towards the centre of his back. Probably about 15 spots. Does this sound like chickenpox?

Yeah they tend to start in small clusters then spread. If it’s chicken pox by morning he’ll have them all over. Has he had a cold/temp the last week? Usually kids get feverish a few days before spots show

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I’m a bit annoyed at the moment because the management company of my complex has decided to remove all intercoms. This means that whenever I get deliveries, drivers need to ring me and have to go all the way to the entrance gate to get my packages. There’s no reception either.

I’m now experiencing repeated issues with UPS who told me drivers aren’t allowed to ring recipients on the phone during delivery. This has caused many of my deliveries to fail and be returned to sender (costing me money and time). This is a new rule because UPS drivers always rang me before.

I’m now honestly about to lose my mind because this means I would have to avoid all online merchants because most use UPS. I tried to escalate the issue to UPS to no avail. I’ve now one package returned to sender awaiting refund and another one stuck with UPS because of this. I paid about €20 in delivery fees for both and can’t be delivered. It’s a pure rip off. I’ve no clue what to do or how to raise a formal complaint?

Can’t you have it delivered somewhere else? Like a shop for pick up?

 

[stargirl23]

Thanks I'll look at those, I honestly didn't think she'd get out her crib being how high it is but so far tonight she's gotten out 4 times an fell out once, have no idea what to do for tonight, am hoping she won't be able to pull herself over a non space gate an is only getting out the crib because of the spaces

Yeah my nephew was the same but he wasn’t able to climb the wooden stair gate as his feet kept sliding down but the standard stair gates were easier as he could grip his toes round the bars and climb over. Hopefully you’re able to sort something

 

[Babysnark]

I've worked in many sectors where references have always been part of the process. Did you put referees on your CV/Application form when you applied?

Nope, though I got my position through a recruitment agency but didn't provide references at any stage of the process

 

[GalaxyGirl70]

My Dad had frozen shoulder and it almost sent him mad - they said it was due to his diabetes. Only thing that helped him was plenty of movelat gel on it, a heat pad and eventually cortisone injections.

 

[Snippysnips]

We've got a note on our door, parcels for this address only. Our opposite neighbour is some sort of medical equipment rep and gets daily deliveries that I kept getting bangs on the door about late afternoon when I get in. I took one in once out of pity as the guy said it was half his delivery load and he'd have to bring it back the next day ... she had the cheek to huff at me for having it put in our garage and not hers as there was so much of it. Like I magically knew that she left the door open.......

What is it about cheeky neighbours, honestly the delivery people are more to blame for not reading the note, but I'd in future just say nope an close the door on them, the more you close the door on them the more they hopefully with take the hint an stop coming to you

I don't understand why people can't schedule delivers for a time they will be in at or have them dropped off somewhere they can pick them up

 

[stargirl23]

I don’t think it could’ve been used before, I only scratched off the silver PIN code today. I did a bit of googling and I think the gift card hasn’t been activated properly, apparently it happens quite a lot!


I explained it to him and he said he can ask his sister, but there’s probably not much she can do if she gave the receipt to another person (other than asking them). I don’t want to make a big fuss about it

Ah okay cant have been activated properly then and hopefully Tesco can help you! Especially if you say it was a gift and have one receipt but you believe it’s the wrong one they should be able to help hopefully

 

[Bobbleowl90]

Not really a problem but got a weekend to London booked in a few weeks with a very excited 4 year old. Done London plenty of times (we are from the North) and with a toddler but not a 4 year old who is obsessed with the idea! Any suggestions to make it exciting? Places to eat? We are doing the transport museum already.