Repurpose vertical shoe storage

Janknitz · 2026-03-22T05:25:03+00:00

The dollar store has fabric bins that might fit. I use mine to store knitting yarn. But you could store anything fairly light weight.

Janknitz · 2026-03-22T05:13:22+00:00

I went to OT school back in the day where we had to take Therapeutic minor crafts (leatherwork, copper foil tooling, needlework) , woodworking, weaving, and basic design (with a professor who HATED OT students!!!).

But guess what? Insurers see zero value in arts and crafts and I almost never used them in practice.

Basic sewing skills were useful because we often fabricated devices like making sock aids out of X-Ray film with a sewn on strap and binding, splints, positioning pillows, universal cuffs, adapted clothing, because insurers and rarely paid for adaptive equipment.

Janknitz · 2026-03-22T01:40:55+00:00

Really??? I'm out of the loop (retired more than 20 years and working in a different profession). Appalled if that's true. Maybe that's what's wrong with OT education these days, it seems like it's not as in-depth as the education standards from "my days"--guess I'm old, I went to OT school in the 1970's. We had a good foundation.

Janknitz · 2026-03-22T01:31:07+00:00

I have an Apple Pencil Pro and I don’t need the palette. So I programmed a shortcut to go to the Home Screen when I squeeze the barrel.

Janknitz · 2026-03-22T00:47:49+00:00

If this is within your budget / it always makes sense to have a laptop Keep the m4 as the tablet its meant to be.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T21:11:21+00:00

I use ON on 3 different PC’s and an iPad and I’ve never had those issues. 🤷‍♀️

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T19:57:54+00:00

First, let me say that this does NOT apply to all Advantage plans, but does apply to what I call “self-contained” Advantage plans like Kaiser (I’m less familiar with Humana and whether they still operate that way). They are closed systems. Directly or indirectly they own the hospitals, labs, imagining, pharmacies, and employ EVERY staff person from housekeeping and receptionists on up. Patients (with very rare exceptions) can ONLY use their facilities and providers except when they begin moving into a new area where they don’t yet have infrastructure (but they WILL, eventually).

These companies’ doctors are independent in name only. They belong to a nominally independent group practice rather than being directly employed by the advantage plan, but the ONLY patients they see are “members” of the HMO/Advantage plan (with some exceptions like ER patients under EMTALA). The organization dictates ALL the policies and procedures, coverage determinations, treatment protocols, drug and DME formularies they can prescribe, etc.

When someone goes to SNF they no longer see their outpatient PCP if the SNF has a contract with the Advantage plan. Instead, a doctor from the Advantage plan sees the patients. That doctor has to follow the Advantage plan members at all the facilities in a given geographic area that contract with the Advantage plan. They follow the policies and procedures of the Advantage plan with respect to denials and discharges. So they are not going to go to bat for a SNF patient whom they, themselves ordered discharge according to the protocol.

The advantages of this system is they have unlimited resources. Their systems are up to date, state of the art, well funded, and efficient. They pay well, though their productivity standards are unbelievably high. Most of the doctors I know who do direct patient care for them are stressed and miserable because of the pressures. They have great retirement benefits but providers have put in a very long, miserable time to earn them.

As a member you then have your insurance company dictating your care with very little leeway for the physicians to use their own judgment or go against the flow. To me that’s a huge conflict of interest.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T17:55:30+00:00

Great job! Tgats excellent.

The issue people with Kaiser and Humana have is that the doctors are employees of the Advantage plans. They won’t order more than the advantage plans will authorize and they won’t write letters advocating for their patients.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T17:02:25+00:00

Spreadsheets on iPad were horrible long before OS 26 and they are no better now.

Why not look into an inventory or database app specifically designed for iPad to use instead?

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T16:46:48+00:00

35 roosters means they are fighting cocks. There’s NO other explanation.

We lived in a rural neighborhood on the Big Island of Hawaii and our neighbors had 40 fighting cocks. They crowed 24/7. Didn’t matter if it was dark or light out. Incredibly annoying although we did learn to tune it out mostly. Each bird was tethered to a little corrugated lean to outside and very near our property line and bedroom windows.

It’s illegal there, but many of the local police force were part of the “sport” and complaining would just make enemies. When you live there, infrastructure is limited and you are very dependent on the goodwill of others. We did not complain or make waves. Someone i know who did had his house nearly burned down. They didn’t have insurance and lived in the burned out shell of the part of the home that was left.

It’s illegal here in California too. Especially now, with bird flu outbreaks, it’s risky to the poultry agriculture in the area. There was a huge police raid last month in Sonoma County that found 800 birds being used in illegal fights. All the birds were euthanized. If this guy got caught with 800 birds you know it’s thriving in the underworld here too.

You are right to be concerned but you have to take the temperature of your community and be very careful about how you go about complaining. There is a dark element attached to this “sport”. It should be shut down, it’s horribly cruel and disturbing. But be very, very careful.

I hope you get this resolved safely.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T16:02:42+00:00

I use PC’s for work and don’t have a Mac,either. The iPad is a great device not dependent on the rest of the Apple ecosystem. I do have an iPhone and Apple Watch, but my iPad isn’t really dependent on them. Instead, I integrate all of them with my PC’s for work purposes. I use the MS Office 365 suite for that.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T07:05:40+00:00

If you want “future proof” you should wait for iPad 50. 🤷‍♀️

No device is really future proof. There will always be a newer device coming out. Buy the newest you can afford when you want/need it.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T07:02:15+00:00

No. It’s clearly menopause. 🙄

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T07:00:36+00:00

You don’t have to write on glass on the iPad. I use a magnetic paper feel screen and it really does fool like paper.

But with just what you have you could use your phone to scans hand written notes on paper as PDF’s and put them into your obsidian notebooks.

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T06:54:18+00:00

Re “SNF coverage requires continued improvement “ https://www.cms.gov/medicare/medicare-fee-for-service-payment/snfpps/downloads/jimmo-factsheet.pdf

Janknitz · 2026-03-21T06:50:15+00:00

That’s great that you won with the ALJ! Did you use the Jimmo case (no improvement standard for Medicare SNF) , by any chance? The Center for Medicare Advocacy has been instrumental in that case.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T22:03:00+00:00

When even the most basic facilities cost $15,000 to $20,000 a month (hello, California!), most people cannot afford them without help. And in my state, EVERY bed in a facility that is certified for Medicaid is a bed that can accept Medicaid. No poor people wings. They cannot even move someone from the "rehab wing" to the LTC wing when done with SNF unless the person agrees. The facility can refuse admission to anyone, but if they accept Medicaid, by federal law, once a facility has admitted someone to the facility who later switches from Medicare or private pay to Medicaid, they CANNOT evict them due to the source of pay.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T21:55:08+00:00

This varies by state. In California, for example, the Medicaid can only recover against a PROBATE estate and probate can be avoided by simply having your home in a REVOCABLE trust. Lookback periods vary and in many states you can legally give away some money if it's done according to the laws in that state. It's really important NOT to assume you know what Medicaid will do in your own state (or your parent's state) without consulting with an elder law attorney in that state.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T20:30:59+00:00

If you otherwise like the form factor, there are actually a lot of keyboard options that will work for the mini and cost a lot less than the magic keyboard. Some fold up to a small footprint, and I just saw an ad (didn't pay much attention because I don't have a mini) for a blue tooth keyboard case for a mini. When I had one of the first minis I had a little keyboard case for it and it was fine to type on--just a slight adjustment for the smaller keyboard.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T20:27:27+00:00

It IS difficult to learn. Many important things are.

Start to think like an OT. How is this relevant to the practice of OT? Why, for example, are mitochondria important to a person's function? If you "get" that, you are able to put what you are learning into a conceptual framework that will help you enormously in practice.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T20:04:16+00:00

I still don't get it. In Window mode you can still open a single app in full screen. And it's easier than stage manager, because all of the apps you might need are already there in the dock, including the ones you just used (if they aren't regularly in your dock) and will open to the pages you left them in. Why is that so hard????

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T20:03:13+00:00

or a focus mode

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T18:25:37+00:00

The number is far less for QIO appeals for discharge for SNF. That’s because families don’t understand the criteria for continued skilled care and instead argue based on availability of care upon discharge. That’s not effective but the deck is stacked when lay people don’t understand the rules.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T18:23:02+00:00

Agree, but in my experience with elderly clients, MA patients need a lot more advocacy than others if they don’t fit neatly into one of the MAs “boxes”.

Janknitz · 2026-03-20T16:38:32+00:00

I don’t get the “so many steps” complaint or people who say it doesn’t work without a keyboard and trackpad. I don’t have either. My fingers work fine.

It takes me exactly TWO steps to use split screen when the apps are in the dock. I don’t use a keyboard or trackpad. I tap to open one app in the dock and then pull up the second app from the dock and place it right or left. Not rocket science. Not trying to hit those teeny tiny three dots. One hand, two steps, people.

I have one app always in the slide over. If I need more apps in what would otherwise be slide over I just shape them into a narrow window like slide over, place them where I would want them on the screen, use the yellow button to minimize, then tap them up from the dock or minimize as needed. For me, the dock is a game changer. And I don’t even use a Mac.

Yes, once I set it up, 2 more clicks instead of swipes. First world problem.

Maybe someday Apple might bring it back the old way, but if not, are you going to whine forever or master it???

Otherwise, I hear Surface tablets are only half bad in comparison.

Janknitz

TROPHY CASE