I have experience with LTCI. My mother has dementia, lives in assisted living, and (THANK GOODNESS) had continued to pay for her LTCI policy even after the premiums jumped well above what she could afford. She made many MANY terrible financial decisions as her dementia progressed but this is one I am glad she made. It was not "smart" on paper. It nearly broke her personal finances to keep that policy but it was a HUGE help to me when she had to go into assisted living. She is currently on year 5 of having her assisted living fully paid for by LTCI. It was a hassle to jump through all of the hoops to get her qualified to use it, but since then, whatever paperwork is required is handled by her facility. I have not had to do anything. There are policy limits and daily limits. Luckily, my mom's facility is within the daily limits. She will exhaust the total policy payout within the next year. I have her on several waiting lists for memory care facilities that take Medicaid. At this point, I am just crossing all of my fingers that she hits the top of one of those lists before her insurance runs out. (and that I can successfully move an angry woman with advanced dementia) If not? No idea. I do not have the resources to pay even one month of her expenses and she already requires a level of care and supervision that would be impossible for me to carry out. Having had such a great experience, I researched it for ourselves. As others have said, there are not many options out there anymore and what is available is too expensive for most people. I even talked this over with a rep from my mom's insurance company. They basically confirmed that the only reason the daily limits and premiums were accessible to my mom is that she bought the policy in the 1990s when they were much more common. Had her policy been even a little bit newer, the daily limit would likely be half, if not less. So, apparently that is off the table for us. We do not have a plan for ourselves. We are too preoccupied at the moment with taking care of other people. We did discuss it with our own financial planner and he confirmed that actual policies are rare and expensive. He suggests "self-insuring" using whole life insurance. This is what we have done but we will not get anywhere close to saving what we would need in the worst of situations.

Google is failing me on this one. We have 20+ yo hickory kitchen cabinets. They are starting to get a little rough looking and I have no plans to replace them. I also do not want to paint them. There are two main issues that I'm hoping someone might know how to handle. 1. The cabinet door faces directly under the sink have water damage. The finish is worn off. I really don't want to do a full sand and re-varnish as I know it will likely not match the rest of the doors. Any quick fixes? 2. A lot of grease and dust has built up on some of the surfaces that is pretty resistant to normal cleaning methods. And around some pulls, it is dark colored. The only thing that seems to cut it is microfiber or magic eraser-type sponges, but that seems to also remove the finish, making the whole thing sticky and even more prone to build up.

There is a pretty comprehensive cookbook titled "Vegan Planet" by Robin Robertson that I recommend to people new to plant-based diets. The recipes are generally quick to prepare, simple, and with readily available ingredients. There are a million books out there but if I could only have one, this would be it. It's kind of the Betty Crocker cookbook for vegetarians. I usually don't cook with recipes much anymore but I leaned heavy on this book when I was still learning how to cook.

But, he does remove spiders. Without killing them. So.......?

I have been chewing on this topic for a bit as I also have a college-aged child. Mine does not do any chores or projects when she is visiting our home yet I was still angry about the OP's situation. That seemed contradictory so I stewed on it for a while and I think I untangled a distinction that might be relevant. My dd goes to college locally and she mostly supports herself, although we do contribute a small monetary amount when we can. She always had chores and was expected to help out growing up. But now, the only time she stays at our house is what I would classify as a "vacation." Similar to what grown adults do when they come home to visit parents. So, as I always expect to help when visiting my FOO or ILs by doing things like helping prepare and clean up meals, run random errands, or doing anything else that obviously needs doing, I expect dd to do the same. And she does. But if she did not, I would not force her to any more than I would expect my MIL to force me to do a chore while visiting. However, there is a distinction between my dd's situation and the OP's. Dd has not lived in our house since the day she moved into the dorms as a freshman. She had an internship in another state the summer after her freshman year and has since been renting a house with two other students about one mile from our house. Ironically, the rental house is almost identical to ours in size, shape, and age, but much rougher. So she has been doing her own "chores" in her own house for years. I am not going to ask her to do them at home too. I want home to be a place to relax and be pampered a little. And, yes, that means extra work for dh and me, which we can willingly handle, because no matter how respectful dd is, there really is more cooking, cleaning, and other tasks when the household expands by one person. I think what might be getting lost here is that some college students are home on a "vacation/visit" basis while others are moving back in full-on for the summer or live at home while attending school/working. I would treat these situations differently. If a student is living in the home, especially if they are still financially supported by their parents, they should be treated as a member of that household and contribute in whatever way makes sense, ideally without any drama. I certainly would make adjustments for a kid that is working a lot of hours or taking classes during that time, but if they are *living* in the house rather that *visiting,* I would expect them to pitch in to keep the household running. I will say that dd has two housemates. One, like her, who knows how to do basic household chores and logistics. And one that clearly grew up in a home in which he was never asked to do (or even witness) chores. Dd has pretty much given up on trying to get this dude to do ANYTHING. Like, he won't even return his dirty dishes to the kitchen, let alone wash them or put them away. He is 100% oblivious. For a while, they tried the whole chore chart thing and he never refused to participate, he is just helpless. When it was his turn to clean the bathroom, dd showed him the basics after he claimed to not know what to do. He did it, kind of. But then the next time, no one could even tell he had tried. He will do anything when asked, just not well. They have given up and the other two just do all of the chores. Like having a toddler, it is more work to get him to do it than to just do it themselves. Don't be the parents of that guy*. *Totally OT, but this guy saves up his laundry for weeks then brings it all home for his mom to do. He then returns with stacks and stacks of individual meals that his mom made and froze. He has his own dedicated chest freezer in the basement to store these meals. All he has to do is remove the lid and microwave. He never cooks or shops. Mom makes enough for 3 meals a day for weeks at a time. He also does not wash the freezer containers. He chucks them into big rubbermaid bins to bring home (dirty) to his mom. Luckily, the microwave and bins of stinky dirty dishes are stored in his room so it is not in a public space. His mom even provides boxes of plastic silverware, which is a huge relief to dd as before she started doing that, dd had to keep nagging him to find and return the silverware in his room because they would be completely out in the kitchen. This has been going on for 2+ years! They would have kicked him out of the house after their first lease was up except that they decided the hassle of covering his chores is worth it because he spends all time outside of class in his room gaming and never ever has friends over, so aside from a few extra chores, it is like they have the house to themselves. And he will also willingly help them remove spiders from the house....which both dd and the other housemate are terrified of. So, if you are the parents of that guy, I suggest finding a special "talent" to make up for the lack of doing chores.

I have this uncanny ability to find myself in positions in which I must choose between getting too close to wildlife and dying from hypothermia. THREE times over my lifetime, I have been hiking/backpacking during cold/wet weather and come across something(s) that could kill me if I get too close. FTR, that would be a moose mother with calves, an uncharacteristically aggressive-seeming black bear that we suspected had a cub or two nearby, and a herd of buffalo. In all three cases, the wildlife was blocking our path and we could only wait it out so long before being non-mobile and wet in low temps would become more dangerous than the wildlife. The latest was the herd of buffalo, two weeks ago. We waited for a while and watched until we had the best opening to slip through, but it was still pretty scary. The closest ones were side-eyeing us and lifting their tails, which we know are warning signs. We did have bear spray on us and had we not, I don't know what we would have done this time. We could see the herd after we had passed them and continued to descend. An entire hour later when we got to the end of the trail, we could still see them in the same location on the hill. They were not going to move any time soon. We could have broken out our emergency blankets and huddled down, but there was no telling how long we would have been there. It seemed less dangerous to take our chances with passing. Meanwhile, we did see dumb tourists stopped on the side of the road (against the rules) trying to get selfies with the "fluffy cows."

This song has been in our family rotation for years and I never paid attention to the lyrics! I had no idea. I am also pro oxford comma. I also cannot (and will not) break my habit of two spaces after periods.

Thanks everyone! Those of you who suggested I press more into the coding were right! I worked on that late last night and sent a summary of everything to the provider asking them to review the codes and resubmit. I didn't think I'd get anywhere because they already "reviewed the codes" twice before. But I spelled it out in extreme detail that I wanted them to review the codes against the pre-auth, of which I attached a copy. Just now, I got a response that there is indeed a coding error and they will resubmit. Of course, this does not mean it is over but at least something is happening. I can see them pulling a retro-decline because as Alice describes, I believe an ultrasound would have been the most economic next step had the doctor been able to predict the future. I have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with my employer's insurance liaison, which I will still attend, if for no other reason than to make sure it is all documented with my employer. Fingers crossed!

I'm hoping someone has worked through this specific issue. A "coding error" and how to get that specifically resolved when the provider claims it is correct.

I have been back and forth with the provider and the lowest they will go for monthly payment is $1125/month, which I cannot pay. I should be concentrating on recovering, not this!

I have the link for the commissioner and that is my next plan. I have to assume I will pay more than the $4500 if I have to hire a lawyer?

Thanks everyone! Deleted for privacy.

We have a special small birthday quilt (made by an aunt) that goes on the dining room table for the day of a birthday. Gifts and cards are collected there. Birthday person gets to choose dinner. Pretty standard. But we have one odd thing. When dd's first birthday came around, she was not able to eat grains (long story). So traditional cake was out of the question. But we still wanted the whole baby-with-cake experience (and photos, of course!). Being a late summer birthday, I made a layer "cake" out of seedless watermelon. I cut out two round cake-sized slabs. Then used freshly whipped cream as the frosting with berries to decorate. It was so cute, and tasty, and light, we decided to make that her cake every year. Still going strong into adulthood! None of us are big cake fans and find most desserts way too filling and sweet so this is a nice alternative.

I can tell you what my upright bass playing buddy from high school drove.... A VW Rabbit convertible. We were in an orchestra together that required a 30 minute drive each week. He had that car and I had none, so I aways rode with him. That was a VERY cold ride on winter days as the top had to be down whenever the bass was with us. This was his parents' "solution" to your problem. I do not recommend. More than once we arrived soaked because it was raining. Many years ago, we were in a similar situation except we needed to be able to haul five people and a full drum kit. We brought the kit with us to test drive cars. The sales people were amused but it was 100% necessary. We were surprised at what vehicles worked and which did not. We ended up with a Honda CR-V which I assumed would have been WAY too small.

Me too! I don't usually post to this tread but had to come in and see if anyone else has this as their starter word. I have been waiting for this day!

I do listen to podcasts and music sometimes. But the waiting I'm talking about can be 3 minutes.....not long enough to get into a storyline. Normal people can just sit tight for that amount of time, but I am usually waiting on people who are not respecting my time so being distracted is helpful (for them). And often I think I will be waiting for 3 minutes and it turns into 15 minutes.

Good tip! And yes, I am already at the these-are-not-real-words part of the Wordscapes.

I spend time most days waiting around for various things. I typically have my library book on me to kill time while waiting. But sometimes those waiting times are in short spurts of 5-10 minutes. During those times I play Sudoku on my phone. The app I have has really annoying ads and frankly, I'm getting sick of Sudoku. So, yesterday, I tried one of the other games that are advertised called Wordscape. I enjoy it quite a bit but again the ads are super annoying and kill my phone battery. I don't mind paying a reasonable amount for my preferred games to get rid of the ads but have no idea where to start. I am looking for game recommendations that meet the following: 1. Easy to be interrupted and restarted 2. Ad free 3. Not time-based (like tetris where things get more frantic over time) 4. Puzzle/logic type....similar to Sudoku, Wordle, and Wordscape

Will it allow you to save the file as another name so you can work with it?

Quinoa really does not have anything sticky in it to clump (unlike rice and millet) so anything that clumps should break apart very easily once thawed.

I have never done the layer-on-a-sheet thing. And no, nothing that I freeze like that has been clumpy. Rice and millet can have clumps, whether frozen or just being in the fridge, but the clumps are easily handled with a fork. I usually cool the pot to room temperature, then put in deli containers. Other times, I don't know how much I will use before freezing so the whole pot goes in the fridge for a day or two before I transfer some to containers for the freezer. The only things I pre-freeze on a sheet is berries and green beans as those can end up in a frozen mass that makes taking just what I need difficult.

I use pint-sized deli containers to freeze quinoa (and beans, rice, millet, etc....). I always make 4+ the amount I need and freeze the rest in those containers. I just saved them from deli foods over the years but any plastic pint container works. I also sometimes freeze in 1/2 pint or quart size. Even pint sized ziplock freezers bags if I'm in a pinch. It is REALLY nice to be able to grab a quart of rice or a pint of quinoa from the freezer rather than starter from scratch on busier days. The deli container are nice because I can run toss them in a bowl of hot tap water to defrost if I didn't plan ahead. Many a 5pm dinner panic has been solved by grabbing a pint each of rice and beans, adding them to some sautéed onions, spices, and canned tomatoes....all of which I always have on hand.

I freeze quinoa with no problems at all. I cannot even tell the different from freshly made.

I am pretty sure it will fall off before I can get into my PCP. The earliest they have an opening is two weeks from now, although I am on the "cancellation waiting list." I have to have a referral from my PCP to go to a dermatologist. I took a photo and put it in my portal but am not too hopeful on that one. The last two times I have tried to communicate via the portal, it took a few days to just get an auto-response instructing me to make an appointment. Those were much simpler questions that should have been a quick yes/no from my PCP but I don't think the actual doctor saw what I posted. So, given all of that, I see my options as going to urgent care before it falls off or waiting for my appointment in which time I am quite sure it will fall off on its own. If that happens, do I keep it (ew ew ew EW!)? If I go to urgent care, they might be able to give me a referral to a dermatologist, but again, I don't think I could get an appointment at a time in which I can take a whole day off to travel for it until after it falls off. Or maybe they can remove it at urgent care? But probably not to be biopsied? I'm just not sure what to do next..... I am glad to know this has happened to others and is probably going to be OK.

Unfortunately, no. I live in a geographically isolated location and have to travel 2-4 hours to see one.