A month or so ago, I had a brutal toothache that turned out to be a half inch crack in one of my molars. A filling later, and my pain was gone for a month or so.
Fast forward to a week ago. Brutal, pulsing pain once again overloaded the right side of my mouth, and I knew I was in trouble. I booked an emergency appointment, and after some X-rays, it was confirmed: I would need a root canal.
For me, this was a big deal, as I have only ever had three cavities in my life, this being the third and apparently most severe. I don’t have dental insurance, so the rate quoted me for “keeping your tooth” vs. acquiring my first step towards “the bocefus look” was approximately $1500 CND.
This couldn’t have pleased me any less, but what can any of us do? In the end, we’re all at the mercy of the croakers.
During that first appointment, my dentist said he would remove the pain by removing “the infected material”. Said material, I would later discover, was the roots of my upper right second molar. After that, he put on a temporary patchwork enamel, not unlike Bondo. My teeth didn’t hurt for an entire week, and yesterday I went for phase two.
This included two more painful injections, and then an hour of Seinfeld, as he happily drilled away and injected hot rubber into my now-empty canals, while chatting with his dental assistant about ski trips with his kids. Now I have to wait another week before my next appointment where they fit me for a post and crown, and then the fourth and final (hopefully) appointment where they slap the crown on.
I’ve taken a few days off from poker as I was burning out. The month started out very hot, and I tried to keep that rolling but the last few days had been trying. I still have a good month going so far, which is good since I won’t be playing much from the 22nd on when moo gets here.
I bought a few DVD’s lately:
Strange Days: 7. I love this movie, and hadn’t seen it in years, and hell it was $8 CND. I couldn’t pass it up. Also, the soundtrack is very good, which I’ve owned all these years and if you were a patron of Hardwired, you’ll recognize.
The Magnificent Seven: 8. Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen. Charles Bronson, and James Coburn star in this remake of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.
The Graduate: 5. A classic that made me think of all my friend’s mom’s.
Today is Valentine’s Day, and so I booked myself a massage with my aunt’s massage therapist, and found myself downtown, with 45 minutes to spare before the appointment. As I was driving towards home, I ran out of gas! This is the first time I’ve ever done that, and it happened in Canada. My pal Mike was good enough to bring me gas using a borrowed (from the gas station) container. The only problem was it leaked like mad as there was no washer in the funnel. The first few tries, we got gas all over my car, my feet, and some on his jeans. It was very irritating. Eventually, I decided to * cue MacGyver music * make a funnel using the waxed paper cover of my road atlas. It worked like a charm, and now it’s by the side of the road, never to be read by me again. I guess I’ll have to figure out how to get to Tucumcari by asking directions. Anyway, the long and the short is I owe Mike lunch tomorrow at Shabusen, which is kind of a win-win situation I guess. Sushi+Korean BBQ is the goods, even if I have to treat.
I arrived at the massage therapist’s 15 minutes late, which she was ok with, as I had left a voicemail just before my phone battery ran out. Yvonne is great, and she uses hot rocks, which are awesome.
I feel better, and I’m warming up some Chicken-rice-Chinese sausage-mushroom hot pot that I made yesterday. Dad sent out the recipe a few months ago and I finally tried it out. It's pretty good.
I still haven’t acquired rechargables for my camera. I’m having a hard time finding them at a reasonable price. I will sooner or later though. Not being able to take new photos is annoying!