Odds and Ends

For the last couple of years, when I went to my Dentist, he would tell me that I had several teeth that were in need of some additional care (Read $).  Last week when the Hygienist cleaned my teeth, she said she could smell decay from a leaking crown.  She located the  problem on the first crown I ever had and it dang near fell off when she hooked her probe underneath. It was clear in the back of my mouth on a wisdom tooth and they said it was number one in the teeth count.  When the Dentist came over he re affirmed that I had one (number 4) tooth that had been filled to the max that was again had a cavity and two teeth (12 & 13)  that were broken and in danger of falling apart.  If that happened, there would be no crown, there would be an extraction and a partial.  Bring on the crowns.   Well, to make a long strory not much shorter, yesterday I went in and the Dentist ground four teeth down and I was fitted with temporary crowns.  In a couple of weeks I'll go back and have the new crowns installed. I can remember when you could buy a dang near good used car for what I will have to pay.

Do you have a model of your teeth?  I Do.

There is a couple of funny stories in here.  The Assistant to the Dentist was the person that fitted my first crown over 20 years ago.  She has done about every one since and I told her that I had spent about as much money on her as I had my wife over the years.  I was warned that I should never poke fun at a person that was going to be in my mouth with pointy tools. One time years back, the crown fell off the wisdom tooth and as the assistant was working on the re-fit, she dropped it and I was lucky that my gag reflex kept me from swallowing it.   Then, after the temporary crowns were installed I realized that the assistant had one of the most gentle touches I had ever had work on my mouth.  I started to tell her that when I realized that the dentist had my mouth so numb that the assistant could have been driving a jeep in my mouth and it would have been gentle to the feel.  The only sad part of this story is that my Dentist of many years is going to retire at the end of next month and I will have to use one of the other Dentists in that office.  I was told that I didn't have to make a choice as the scheduler would make sure that I was taken care of.  One of them works Monday through Thursday and the other works Tuesday through Friday.  They swapped weekends on call for emergencies. 


Last night, my temporary worker, Austen, was discussed and I feel that he is worth every penny I pay him.  The subject came up that he was available today and Barbara indicated that I needed to take the day off.  I guess working half a day on the deck was a bit much in this heat and a day off did sound pretty good.  It is to be 104 today and and at 8 AM it is already in the 80's.  I am not sure what we will do for fun today but I'm sure I can stay busy having fun.   The boys do have something to do at their Grandmothers today so all is well. 

Did I tell you the story about the last Bat Man movie?   I think it was called the Dark Night and I watched it alone in a theater and thought it was the darkest movie I had ever seen.  As I got up to leave the theater,I realized that I still had on my clip on sunglasses and it was no wonder it was a bit darker than I liked.  I think as an adult, I am not afraid of much in life and I want to admit that Heath Ledger as the Joker creep-ed me out.   I do wish that whatever demons that challenged him hadn't won.  I loved his acting in the Patriot and the Bat Man movies.  I wasn't as thrilled with Broke Back Mountain but he did play that role in a convincing manner.

Bridge with new handrails

The picture above is the bridge I built for Barbara with the new hand rails to make it sturdier.  Did you notice the metal running rabbit?  I think the design was from Barb's sister Judy and her brother Kenny turned it to a metal sculpture.  They are the most talented people I know. 

MUD