Kitchen Sink Research Articles

Exploring Marital Strife in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger

The classical play Look Back in Anger has a single setting and story explored over three acts. The play is a "kitchen sink" drama witha traditional fundamental story device—misalliance in a marriage made worse by a love triangle. The play's opening scene uses the story to reinforce the married couple's feeling of joy and security at home. When Jimmy and Alison appear as the bear and squirrel, it is also a happy and stable moment at the end of the play. Marital problems are discussed, defining the causes of alienation, identity loss, and rage. Other types of character mischief are also revealed throughout the play. Alison loses her childhood because Jimmy's marriage forces her to mature too quickly. The rage and cruelty Alison's husband inflicts upon her is a waste of her youth. Jimmy's hatred and indignation are an outpouring of his suppressed feelings and his craving for vitality in a world that has grown dull. That rage was transformed into a representation of the uprising against the political and social ruin of British society.

Evaluation of a water arsenic filter in a participatory intervention to reduce arsenic exposure in American Indian communities: The Strong Heart Water Study

Many rural populations, including American Indian communities, that use private wells from groundwater for their source of drinking and cooking water are disproportionately exposed to elevated levels of arsenic. However, programs aimed at reducing arsenic in American Indian communities are limited. The Strong Heart Water Study (SHWS) is a randomized controlled trial aimed at reducing arsenic exposure among private well users in American Indian Northern Great Plains communities. The community-led SHWS program installed point-of-use (POU) arsenic filters in the kitchen sink of households, and health promoters delivered arsenic health communication programs. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of these POU arsenic filters in removing arsenic during the two-year installation period. Participants were randomized into two arms. In the first arm households received a POU arsenic filter, and 3 calls promoting filter use (SHWS mobile health (mHealth) & filter arm). The second arm received the same filter and phone calls, and 3 in-person home visits and 3 Facebook messages (SHWS intensive arm) for program delivery. Temporal variability in water arsenic concentrations from the main kitchen faucet was also evaluated. A total of 283 water samples were collected from 50 households with private wells from groundwater (139 filter and 144 kitchen faucet samples). Ninety-three percent of households followed after baseline had filter faucet water arsenic concentrations below the arsenic maximum contaminant level of 10 μg/L at the final visit during our 2 year study period with no difference between study arms (98 % in the intensive arm vs. 94 % in the mHealth & filter arm). No significant temporal variation in kitchen arsenic concentration was observed over the study period (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.99). This study demonstrates that POU arsenic filters installed for the community participatory SHWS program were effective in reducing water arsenic concentration in study households in both arms, even with delivery of the POU arsenic filter and mHealth program only. Furthermore, we observed limited temporal variability of water arsenic concentrations from kitchen faucet samples collected over time from private wells in our study setting.

Atendimento e precariedade no esgotamento sanitário em comunidades rurais do estado de Goiás, Brasil

ABSTRACT The rate of attendance to sanitary sewage services is low in rural communities, representing precarious sanitation conditions with dumping in rudimentary cesspools or in the open. Knowledge of the fractions of effluents generated and the places where they are released is important, since inadequate disposal generates public health problems and negatively impacts the environment. In this way, the objective of this work was to identify the amounts of effluent fractions generated and the deficit of sanitary sewage in rural communities in the state of Goiás. The study area included 97 rural communities, from which data were collected regarding the existence of bathrooms, alternatives and disposal sites for domestic sewage fractions, such as feces separated from urine. The results indicated an absence of a bathroom in 6.6% of the analyzed rural households, being in 2.5 and 18.2% in the households of the settlements and quilombolas, respectively, highlighting in the latter the occurrence of disposal in the open or stream in 13.7%. There was a predominant use of rudimentary cesspools to receive sewage and fecal water, while gray water from the kitchen sink and washing tanks are mainly disposed in the backyard, representing the greatest deficit in the communities. Thus, in most of the studied households there is a deficit due to lack of service, due to the release of untreated effluents into ditches/open air, mainly for gray water, and precarious service due to the unsafe disposal of treated effluents or the use of rudimentary cesspools. Few alternative technologies were found for the treatment of effluents, with ecological pit, biodigester and Tapiocanga stone pit being identified. It was concluded that the deficit of sewage in the households of the studied communities is high, due to the release of effluents without treatment and the use of rudimentary cesspools, characterized as lack of service and precarious service, respectively, observed in 84.6% of households.

Lose Your Father

Lose Your Father

3 in 1 Smart Water Saving Device

Abstract: Friends, nowadays the level of water is decreasing day by day, to save this level of water, all the people are making efforts such as collecting rain water, using RO’s waste water for plants etc. We also wanted to make an effort which will help to a great extent in saving the water level. Friends, you must have seen that 10 liters of water is stored in the flush tank and using it repeatedly consumes a lot of water. To save this water, we have thought of a solution. It will have an arrangement in which two containers of 2 liter and 5 liter will be placed inside the flush tank. The waste water from the kitchen sink will be sent to the sewerage which will be stored in the storage tank and purified and reused in the flush tank. This idea will be of great benefit.

A Study of Microbial Contamination of Toilets In the Girls Doormatory in Al-Qadisiya University

300 samples (Environmental swabs) were collected from different sites of the toilets in the girls doormatory in Al -Qadisiya University for the period: April (2008) – Desember (2008). In this study , 560 isolates of various aerobic microorganisms were collected ,the total bacterial isolates were (459), (%82) while the total Molds and Yeasts isolates were (150) , (%33). The bacterial isolates included: 309 isolates (%67) were gram negative bacteria while 150 isolates (%33) were gram positive bacteria. Enterobacteriaceae was the most common gram negative bacteria (%79) and the Enterococci was the most common gram positive bacteria (%67). There was a clear difference in the percentage of microbial contamination among the sites. The floor and air samples showed the highest growth percentage (%100) with highest count of isolates (162) and (129), while the kitchen sink samples have the lowest growth percentage (%82) with lowest count of isolates (75). On the other hand, certain tests were performed on Dettol and Sodium Hypochlorites solutions ( with the concentrations 10 , 25 & 50) mg/ml Sodium Hypochlorites had the highest prohibition effect on all the microorganisms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most sensitive kind to it , While Staphylococcus aureus was the least sensitive.

Remembering Pandemic Teaching

Remembering Pandemic Teaching Rachel Bates (bio) My students comment on the new bookshelfin my Zoom background.It lives below my framed diploma,a print of The Persistence of Memoryand a half-visible, beveled mirror. A peer told me I looked “put together”when Zooming, butno one can see the immediacyof the kitchen sink on my right,the bulging sectional to my left,hovering so near the frame, I must turnto pass between it and the desk I teach at.They cannot hear my failing marriage haunt the house. Even in this state, though,I keep up pretenses,keep the sink and couch at bay,turn my mind from my marriage.But these things press in, camera hungry.My darting eyes grow wearyfrom begging them for peace. How many others lived such weariness?All I saw were half-lives at the edges of screens:unfinished artwork, severed bookcases, cat tails,family members passing in and out like ghosts. [End Page 102] Rachel Bates Rachel Bates is an Appalachian poet and English doctoral student living and teaching in Knoxville, Tennessee. She studies Contemporary Appalachian literature against environmental and cultural frameworks, as well as considering Appalachian futures both academically and creatively. Her poetry has appeared in Gravel, West Texas Literary Review, and Broad River Review, and among other publications. Copyright © 2022 Berea College

Review: Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up in Everything—and Endangered the World, by Jocelyn C. Zuckerman

In Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up in Everything—and Endangered the World, Jocelyn Zuckerman chronicles how palm oil, a traditional West African crop, was co-opted by Europeans and now hides under hundreds of names in nearly half of packaged grocery store products. Zuckerman takes the reader through the past 150 years of the palm oil industry—from its colonial origins to how it continues to exploit workers, consumers, and the environment today. Zuckerman is a journalist at heart and does not shy away from exposing the abusive, capital-driven decisions made by political leaders, nor is she afraid to admit her personal fears during the dangerous journey she embarked on to collect material for this book.Zuckerman begins with the dark history of how European imperialism spread the palm oil plant (Elaeis guineensis) from Africa to South America and Southeast Asia. She then explains the catastrophic environmental and ethical consequences of palm oil production. Palm oil plantation expansion requires peat fires and chemical treatment, and destroying mature tropical forests, which makes palm oil’s use as a biofuel no less carbon intensive as fossil fuels. Finally, she concludes with an investigation of the contemporary political atmosphere of the international palm oil market. Parts one and two spark readers to rise up against the palm oil industry, but part three reins in that mindset by reinforcing that corporate greed and political manipulation make palm oil a complex problem that lacks a clear solution. The final section reads as a dark comedy about international public relations feuds, regulatory battles, and decades of misinformation reaching global consumers. Zuckerman discusses the ethics of greenwashing, environmental colonialism, and international boycotts that could cause a disastrous economic collapse for entire countries that have no immediate replacement for their primary export.Planet Palm balances a macro view of a complex problem with an immersive look into the lives of individuals living in areas of palm oil production. Throughout the book, we hear the voices of those involved in the industry, including the experience of palm oil plantation workers in South America who are exploited by narcotics laundering schemes, contrasted by renegade spies in Indonesia who risk everything to expose and dismantle illegal plantations. Zuckerman’s storytelling abilities can make far-away readers feel personally affected and moved to remain engaged with the narrative.Zuckerman has published several magazine articles on the topic of palm oil over the past few years, and now goes deeper than ever into the hidden price of cheap commodities. Planet Palm uses humanities to discuss an inherently transdisciplinary topic, with notable sections dedicated to areas of nutrition, policy, and natural resources. The historical background provides context to the contemporary cultural shift toward a demand for sustainability, and the motivations behind those who push back against change.This text will certainly open the eyes of anyone interested and willing to dive headfirst into the complexities of the global food system, and will widen the knowledge of those already aware. Each section of this three-part book is dense enough that it could fill a book of its own, yet Zuckerman manages to weave together a gritty, real-life narrative. This book can be used as an educational text to prompt discussions on the importance of collaboration across disciplines for policy that can tackle wicked problems. From an economic perspective, palm oil markets are growing at unsustainable rates.The book sticks to accessible language and could be an exciting way for someone outside academia to better grasp the injustices created and perpetuated by capitalism. At a time when individual responsibility often seems the best way to address the effects of climate change, Planet Palm is an example of just how deeply climate issues are embedded in the global economy, and how collaborative efforts are required to address the need for systemic change. Consumer attempts to avoid palm products, if even possible, are simply not enough. It’s necessary to think beyond neoliberal tendencies and acknowledge that strides toward sustainability will require major changes at the global level.Zuckerman may raise questions for which she has no answers, but she provides enough information to awaken readers to the dramatic structural changes needed to save the world from the palm oil industry. Palm oil is an issue that speaks most directly to those involved in conservation, nutrition, and labor rights, but this book drives home the point that anyone with dish soap at their kitchen sink can be affected. Zuckerman describes a systemic problem that requires a systemic solution—one that is neither easy nor straightforward to accomplish. Nevertheless, this book provides a ray of hope that shines from the growing number of people working to combat the industry, while spreading awareness of what Zuckerman deems the “Palm Oil Crisis.”

The circular hydraulic jump; the influence of downstream flow on the jump radius

In this study, we examine the consistency of a gravity-based predictive theory for a hydraulic jump, given by Kurihara [Proceedings of the Report of the Research Institute for Fluid Engineering (Kyusyu Imperial University, 1946), Vol. 3, pp. 11–33]; Tani [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 4, 212–215 (1949)] with the phenomenological condition at the jump given by Rayleigh [Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 90, 324–328 (1914)]; and Watson [J. Fluid Mech. 20, 481–499 (1964)] and show that in light of experimental evidence, the gravity-based predictive theory for the kitchen sink hydraulic jump is incompatible with the phenomenological condition, which must be valid. We also examine the solution to the downstream film and its potential influence on the hydraulic jump. We show that for all practical purposes, at normal flow conditions, the downstream liquid film remains flat and does not affect the jump, and the theory given by Bhagat et al. [J. Fluid Mech. 851, R5 (2018)] gives an excellent prediction of the jump radius. For high viscosity liquids, on a relatively large plate, the viscous dissipation in the downstream film could increase the jump height and, consequently, move the jump radius inward.

Quality Testing of Raw and Filtered Grey-water Emerging from Kitchen Sink: A Case Study

The limited freshwater supplies in arid regions have created alternative water management strategies. Data indicates that grey-water generation varies from 39-85% in various countries. Grey-water treatment and reuse can be a helpful nonpotable water source for toilet draining, watering gardens, car and floor washing, etc. Treated grey-water should be clean, hygienic, environment-friendly and cost-effective. The goal of this research is (i) to test the parameters of raw grey-water (ii) create a filter bed (iii) test parameters of treated grey-water (iv) Compare the parameters of raw and treated grey-water (v) describe the area of use.

Effectiveness of a home-environmental intervention package and an early child development intervention on child health and development in high-altitude rural communities in the Peruvian Andes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

BackgroundUnsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and hygiene, exposure to household air pollution and low cognitive and socio-emotional stimulation are risk factors affecting children in low- and middle-income countries. We implemented an integrated home-environmental intervention package (IHIP), comprising a kitchen sink, hygiene education and a certified improved biomass cookstove, and an early child development (ECD) programme to improve children´s health and developmental outcomes in the rural high-altitude Andes of Peru.MethodsWe conducted a one-year cluster-randomised controlled trial among 317 children < 36 months divided into 4 arms (IHIP + ECD, IHIP, ECD, and Control) and 40 clusters (10 clusters per arm). ECD status (socio-emotional, fine and gross motor, communication, cognitive skills, and an overall performance) measured with the Peruvian Infant Development Scale and the occurrence of self-reported child diarrhoea from caretakers were primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes included the occurrence of acute respiratory infections and the presence of thermo-tolerant faecal bacteria in drinking water. The trial was powered to compare each intervention against its control arm but it did not allow pairwise comparisons among the four arms. Primary analysis followed the intention-to-treat principle. For the statistical analysis, we employed generalised estimating equation models with robust standard errors and an independent correlation structure.ResultsWe obtained ECD information from 101 children who received the ECD intervention (individually and combined with IHIP) and 102 controls. Children who received the ECD intervention performed better in all the domains compared to controls. We found differences in the overall performance (64 vs. 39%, odd ratio (OR): 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.6–4.9) and the cognitive domain (62 vs 46%, OR: 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1–3.5). Data analysis of child morbidity included 154 children who received the IHIP intervention (individually and combined with ECD) and 156 controls. We recorded 110,666 child-days of information on diarrhoea morbidity and observed 1.3 mean episodes per child-year in the children who received the IHIP intervention and 1.1 episodes in the controls. This corresponded to an incidence risk ratio of 1.2 (95% CI: 0.8–1.7).ConclusionsChild stimulation improved developmental status in children, but there was no health benefit associated with the home-environmental intervention. Limited year-round access to running water at home and the possible contamination of drinking water after boiling were two potential factors linked to the lack of effect of the home-environmental intervention. Potential interactions between ECD and home-environmental interventions need to be further investigated.Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN-26548981. Registered 15 January 2018—Retrospectively registered, https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN26548981.Graphical abstract

The Trouble with Language by Rebecca Fishow

Reviewed by: The Trouble with Language by Rebecca Fishow Erin H. Davis (bio) the trouble with language Rebecca Fishow Trnsfr Books https://trnsfrbooks.com/store-1/n2kftobvk50qvbh94t4g5uyfviup1r-xscse 192 pages; Print, $18.00 In an interview with Rob McLennan, writer and artist Rebecca Fishow states that fiction is, among other universal occurrences, subject to “change and [End Page 110] randomness.” She goes on to ask the age-old and forever unanswerable question: “So I wonder if, and how, fiction might represent . . . reality. I wonder if it even should.” The reality of which she speaks here is one of simplicity, of the laws of causation that make up the universe as we know it. In literature, however, especially in fiction, there is ample legroom for the speculative and, quite frankly, incoherent. Fishow’s debut collection of stories, The Trouble with Language, is born from her wild and artful imagination, which is mirrored in both her visual art (check out her collection at rebeccafishow.weebly.com) and her previously published chapbook, The Opposite of Entropy (2018). This collection of haunting—yet addictive—stories comes to life in the midst of a similarly haunting and confusing world. With the continued spread of viruses, of unknown futures, it’s almost counterintuitive to find comfort in Fishow’s world of the equally unsettling. The stories in The Trouble with Language are never repetitive and walk a different plane from that in which we read. They are always fresh, always short and sweet and easily digestible, though their topics may be (at first) grotesque. Take, for example, the second story in the collection, “Timothy’s Severed Head,” which anchors the reader in a quasi-Frankenstein world. In this story, as well as throughout the collection, Fishow explores the infinite wisdom of death and its pervasiveness even within the moments that make us, as humans, feel ironically alive. She writes, What has the severed head shown me? Do you know how important people are? How good. How they matter, even after they are dead. What Mary and the others did to protect the head. There’s so much good in people, and in me too. I want to make it grow. This severed head, representational of so much—death’s constancy, the human fascination with death, the universality of death—echoes the writing of George Saunders and Sabrina Orah Mark, creating dark fairy tales to fit into the speed of today’s society. The stories follow the footsteps of the Brothers Grimm—the writers, as well as the adjective—but rays of hope shimmer through and show the resilience of the human condition. The fact that the severed head never fully decays but circulates, the ways in which blood brings about healing, are just two examples of Fishow’s sense [End Page 111] of salvation within her collection. Perhaps, in today’s COVID-19-wracked world, the political upheavals that have us each on the edge of our seats, and the alarming severity of our planet’s survival, the reminder that death is imminent is freedom. We are, after all, here for only a blip on Earth’s grander time scale. What then, do we have to lose by living fully and unapologetically? Fishow writes, in her story “The Last Day of School,” “We are not here. We never were. If you have an emergency or someone is in immediate danger, ask yourself: What is the value of danger?” Of course, Fishow is not calling for readers to strip themselves of all caution. We can’t throw it all to the wind, especially not when our wind patterns are circular. But there is growth in trauma, and healing that can be found in the numbering of our days. If we are here for only a short time, what is the point in keeping silence, of shuffling through repetitions without rearing our heads? Interestingly, it takes something as absurd as a child prison guard, or ghosts at the kitchen sink, to hoist humanity up out of its languor. Not all that Fishow writes, however, centers on the ghoulish. Her stories—averaging about two to three pages each—highlight the golden edges of the mundane. In a very Lewis...

Forecasting the Chinese Stock Market Volatility with G7 Stock Market Volatilities: A Scaled PCA Approach

ABSTRACT In this study, we forecast the realized volatility (RV) of the Chinese stock market using the heterogeneous autoregressive (HAR) model and various extended models. To extract the volatility information from the G7 stock markets, we employ a newly proposed approach, the scaled principal component analysis (SPCA), to produce a diffusion index and extend the HAR benchmark (HAR-SPCA). To validate the effectiveness of the SPCA approach, we employ three other dimension reduction approaches, the kitchen sink model, and five popular forecast combinations to deal with multivariate information and make competing forecasts. The results suggest that the combined volatility information from the G7 stock markets significantly predicts Chinese stock market volatility. More importantly, the forecasts from the HAR-SPCA model are steadily more accurate than the benchmark and other competing models under various evaluation criteria. Finally, our results are persistent to various robustness checks and the evaluation of portfolio performance.

Open inverted bell and bell formation during the washing of vials

A range of fascinating flow features was observed while cleaning or filling the medicine or liquid vials in the kitchen sink by serendipity. Here, we present the formation of an open inverted bell and bell-shaped flow structures formed from the water sheet in a new geometric arrangement, hitherto unknown. When a laminar jet impinges on the surface of the liquid in the vial of marginally larger or similar diameter, an inverted open water bell is formed, which gradually changes into a flat water sheet to classical water bell as the flow rate is increased. The inverted water bell structures disintegrate by forming water ridges, which finally break down into different sizes of droplets.

Rethinking our chemical legacy and reclaiming our planet

Rethinking our chemical legacy and reclaiming our planet

Kitchen sink dramas and the search for common culture: a comparative analysis of migrant domestic worker abuse in Hong Kong’s English and Chinese-language news media

What can cultural studies contribute to our understanding of Hong Kong’s print and broadcast media? We reorient the current preoccupation with politics in Hong Kong’s local media to focus upon culture. Drawing from cultural studies, and specifically the search for ‘common culture’, we explain divergent perspectives on migrant domestic worker (MDW) abuse in Hong Kong’s English and Chinese-language print and broadcast media. Whereas the English-language media relies upon international experts and NGOs to tell a story of human rights abuses against MDWs, the Chinese-language media is more likely to take us into local homes and to present the employer and community as victims of trickery from domestic workers and agencies. We use the kitchen sink drama as a metaphor to describe this reportage. What forces shape the production of these dramas? and what are the implications for the public understanding of MDW abuse and human rights?

Minimizing the "Kitchen Sink" Approach: De-implementation of Unnecessary Care for Patients with Anaphylaxis in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Introduction:Epinephrine is the only medication that prevents morbidity and mortality in anaphylaxis. Systemic corticosteroids and H2 receptor antagonists (H2RA) may benefit select cases but are not universally indicated. This study aims to de-implement the universal use of steroids and H2RAs and emphasize epinephrine-focused care for children with anaphylaxis during acute care visits. The study aims to reduce steroid and H2RA use from 81% and 60%, respectively, to 30% by December 2019.Methods:The primary outcome measures were the percent of patients receiving steroids and H2RAs in the emergency department (ED) or urgent care (UC). Process measure was the frequency of intravenous (IV) line placement. Balancing measures were ED/UC length of stay, admission rate, and ED/UC return visit rate. In addition, a multidisciplinary team designed the following interventions: (1) anaphylaxis clinical pathway to emphasize epinephrine-focused care, outline criteria for second-line therapies and a provider guideline for ED/UC observation; (2) standardize unit-based anaphylaxis medication kits; (3) optimize electronic medical record tools, including order sets and discharge instructions to be concordant with guideline recommendations.Results:The study included 870 patients. There was special cause variation in the use of steroids (81%–33%) and H2RAs (60%–11%), ED/UC Length of stay decreased (6.2–5.0 hours). There was no special cause variation in admission rates or ED/UC return visit rates.Conclusion:Universal use of systemic steroids and H2RAs can be safely de-implemented in pediatric patients with anaphylaxis using quality improvement methods.

I Am Not All the Way Here

I Am Not All the Way Here

Kitchen layouts and consumers' food hygiene practices: Ergonomics versus safety.

Our paper emphasizes the importance of the kitchen layout in facilitating consumers' food hygiene practices. A significant correlation was found between the sink placement (inside or outside the kitchen) and hygienic practices during food handling based on a survey performed on consumers from ten European countries, indicating that those who had the sink in the kitchen were more likely to perform proper hygiene practices than those who have not. The self-reported practices were supported by observed practices in 64 households from five European countries. The observational study combined with the examination of kitchen layouts revealed that the kitchen work triangle with its apexes represented by the kitchen sink, cooking stove and refrigerator, which is recommended for ergonomic reasons by architects and designers, did not necessarily support food hygiene practices in kitchens. Cross-contamination events were associated with the sink – countertop distances longer than 1 m. Based on this, a new kitchen triangle with its apexes represented by the kitchen sink, working place (usually countertop) and cooking stove, with the distance between the sink and the working place less than 1 m is proposed to be used as norm in kitchen designs for combining ergonomics with safety. This triangle is proposedly named the food safety triangle and is aimed to mitigate the risks of foodborne illnesses by creating an arrangement that facilitates hygiene practices. This study is the first to highlight the importance of implementing the concept of food safety in the kitchen design based on significant correlations between kitchen equipment placement and consumers’ food safety practices.

Back to the Futures

As the Futures Program celebrates its 20th anniversary, I’m inspired to go “back to the future” when an invitation to the Futures Program from the Colorado state chapter of AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine arrived in my inbox. I was introduced to the Society as a geriatrics fellow after being instructed by my fellowship director to attend the monthly medical director meetings at the state health department (yep, medical directors and surveyors all in the same room). I was consistently struck during these meetings by the unique challenges and highly specialized skill set required of those working in nursing homes. So, when presented with an invitation to learn more and spend a few lovely days in San Diego in the middle of winter, I was in. Who could have known this truly would be my future? Cheryl Philips, MD, CMDR, the senior vice president of public policy for LeadingAge, was the first Futures Program presenter, and she had us doubled over with laughter. Two decades later, I still associate her with one of her amusing yet thought-provoking slides. The slide featured a picture of a baby in a kitchen sink, surrounded by bubbles and piles of dirty dishes. The slide was titled, “How did nursing facilities get the way they are?” The slide’s caption read, “... a grand plan ... or something else?” Dr. Philips made a compelling argument that there never was a grand plan but geriatrics training would be valued as nursing homes faced “something else” — pressures to care for increasingly complex patients and declining margins. I was intrigued by the potential to use my geriatrics training in the care of nursing home residents. Over the course of the next few days, I realized I was in terrific company, with kind people who were in this work for all the right reasons. As I get back in a time machine and arrive back from the future, it’s obvious that I found my professional home that day. Sadly, the “something else” Dr. Philips described is more shocking than any plot we could have imagined: the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our communities and spirits. Fortunately, the features that attracted me to the Society 20 years ago are proving to have enduring value as we rebuild. As an example, those state chapter meetings at the health department have continued to facilitate natural collaborations with our health department during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the kind people I met in San Diego who were in it for all the right reasons have come together to create strike teams, lead COVID-19 Action Network ECHO networks, advance legislation, and appear on news programs, all while supporting one another as we look forward. Any depletion from the pandemic has been buoyed by the unflinching commitment of these colleagues. With over 1,000 participants to date, the Futures Program is slowly but surely introducing trainees into post-acute and long-term care. Where will we all be another 20 years from now? Will it be a grand plan ... or something else? I’d like to believe that the pandemic will allow us to step back and finally develop a grand plan. A plan that values the input of those working and living in nursing homes. A plan that dramatically expands programs such as AMDA Futures to develop leaders who are in it for all the right reasons. As I travel back to the future and consider the value of that invitation, I’m deeply grateful. I encourage all of us to extend an invitation, to support the Futures Program, and to continue to pursue a grand plan full of futures. Dr. Levy is a geriatrician board certified in hospice and palliative medicine, and is co-director of the Seattle-Denver Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centric and Value-Driven Care. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated our communities and spirits. Fortunately, the features that attracted me to the Society 20 years ago are proving to have enduring value as we rebuild..