it!
Just back from a conference and got another round of COVID as a souvenir. 
I was already coughing when I went, and wore a mask most, but not all of the time.
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Boo 
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The best thing about professional conferences is the swag 
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I used to cut out the tops, poke holes in the bottom and plant with herbs.
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Nice to hear from you @Lambchop53 ā welcome back!
Glad all is well with you, especially the recent close call, and also with your dad.
(If you need to recover / merge your usernames maybe the mods can help)
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Thank you!
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Dang!!! Sucky.
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Oh darn! Not fair! Take care!
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Our dad would make sculptures from them with the old key opener sardine cans and other things he could find. Crazy looking poultry like creatures, pigs with the super curly tails from the key style openers, alligator/crocs with different size green cans. Wish I had saved at least one. It was an interesting household we grew up in. Both parents were incredibly artistic in their craft, I used to say that they were so talented they could draw themselves out of a box.
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Looks like mamma found a whole smorgasbord for the kids 
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I googled tin can art and found a lot of great stuff. Maybe I have found a new hobby.
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And who could deny those faces anything they wanted?
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I was born with a congenital cardiac condition. Iām among the first wave of folks who have it that have survived to adulthood. Thus, I was ALWAYS shunted from the regular olā cardiologist to whatever advanced clinic was closest. This was almost, but not always, a University hospital. So a cadre of interns all waiting their turn to listen to my chest has been my reality for 50+ years.
Whatās amusing is the confused look they get the first time they do, and the the down of understanding as the doctor explains whatās going on.
If nothing else, know that you have contributed meaningfully to the increase of knowledge available to all humanity. Worth flashing a small number of 20-somethingās every couple of years.
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And this is why I got long-term care insurance 3 months before I turned 50. My father made fun of me for doing it, but I knew thereād probably be no one to take care of me, certainly not financially. The kind of policy I got back then isnāt even being written anymore - the insurers found out theyād grossly underestimated what theyād have to pay out. I have no lifetime cap - monthly certainly isnāt anywhere near $4700 but it would take care of a big chunk. Every year I get a letter from the insurance company asking me if Iād like to lower my premiums in exchange for capping, and lowering, my benefits Umā¦ no. Terrifying. I had friends whose surviving parent outlived her 3 year cap in benefits. No nursing home in their state accepted Medicare funded residents. They had to find a facility out of state. She died before she could be shipped off. Gruesome.
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We really need to do better caring for the aging in this country. Neither private insurance nor public safety nets were designed with the idea that weād all be living into our 80s and 90s regularly and 100s is no longer an aberration. But āshipping offā to a facility is indeed gruesome 
Add to that the cost of modern medicine? I was recently a guest at a hospital (8 days in April and another 12 in May) and the amount of high tech equipment and high-priced people to run it was amazing and terrifying (and Iām not even officially old yet 
They even discharged me with a high-tech wound system that requires a nurse to visit 3x a week. At this point Iām much more a drain on the system than my 95-y-o mom.
Iām fortunate that my father had hospice care at home where friends and family could visit while the nurses took care of his palliative needs. Hopefully mom will be able to do the sameāat least she lives with me and has family close who keep tabs on her.
Iām glad you had the foresight to ensure some security for the future (and the willpower to not exchange it).
But then you have to stick around for a while . . . Who else would feed those cute pups? 
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I was ultimately diagnosed with a rare blood disorder - one of about 750,000 people have it. I remember the night of Thanksgiving being woken by a young intern who just arrived in Boston from Australia and explaining our holiday and traditional menu to him. He was a sweet guy, and I didnāt mind the interruption of my sleep.
I hope you remain well.
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We were fortunate to find an elder care attorney to revise my motherās will and savings after her husband died. He did have to resort to state Medicaid, and there are recovery laws for money spent - the state can file liens against assets upon death of a surviving spouse. We are grateful to have his expertise and compassion.
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The best vittles are the ones the āvisitorsā discard, like pizza and other fast food and as I found out recently, bacon grease. Those bears must have cast iron stomachs!
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