esrosedotblog

Somehow, I lost my mobile phone today.

Like a lot of other people, you might say, "how did you do that?".

May I submit that is a dumb question?

If I knew how I lost it, I wouldn't have.

But it is lost. With all its numbers and shit.

Poor me.

So I got motivated and activated.

What else?

I went to ATT and got me a new clamshell. Not the cheapest but close.

I am using it already and have put in three or four contact numbers.

It is fine.

I had a good salesman. He got very quickly that I was not interested in the screens, the smart stuff.

A clamshell.

Of course, I lost all my numbers. That is a chore. But there were also a lot of junk numbers in it too. Yards and yards of them.

Now I have another clamshell that doesn't even have a brand name on it. It works fine.

The photo is of the actual phone. It is a "non contract" phone even though I have a contract. I guess.

I do not pay much attention to the whole phone thing. Basic service. Period.

As I go, I am adding contacts. Easy peasy.

Then, I had the dentist. Cleaning. No cavities.

No need to report on this except that, yes, it was a new hygienist. He can't keep people worth shit. And I won't go to the one guy who may not even be there anymore but that is OK because I liked this one. Fine.

A big day so far. Can it be over soon?

Labels: dentist, phone

I was supposed to go to the dentist today for a cleaning.

I did not go.

I woke in the night with a dread of it. Seriously. This has not happened to me in a long time. I had come to terms with it all and pretty much have been able to waltz through the process in recent years.

I called and canceled, then called and set a new date. But I don't know if I will follow through on it or not.

I am puzzled by this. I do need to go. I have friends who do not but I have gum issues. Or did have. And they inculcate this idea of necessity which is at one level quite true and at another not.

I am perplexed.

I know that this happens to dentists all the time. They expect it. It has nothing to do with any guilt of bailing on someone who depends on me. It was a bit last minute but what the hell. I have been a good boy.

I just find myself so resistant to going today.

Maybe I need to find a new doc.

I was so happy for years with Dr. Calhoun. A young cynical guy with an attitude that pissed off so many patients that they sort of abandoned him. I loved it. He was irreverent and brash. And, it needs to be said, he made me (by himself in his shop) a set of dentures that have been admired by other dentists in the years since I went to him.

Where did he go? He got a job as the head dental guy at the prison in Blythe CA. Something he could hardly refuse. And, I think, his practice was faltering. I am sure that somewhere he is pushing some con around while he does his job on the con's teeth.

So where does that leave me?

I have had these periods before in my life. I lost a lot of teeth because I played hooky. But now that I have partials for half my teeth, I am a lot less concerned about the whole thing. The more relaxed attitude of an old man without a lot to lose.

A final word of blame. This dentist is pretty good. But he has had a succession of hygienists who really suck. Or piss me off. Or somehow have disappointed. The ones I started with are long gone. He doesn't seem to be able to keep anyone.

So starting at a new place won't be much different than it has been with this office. Always a new person cleaning and scraping my teeth. The actual time with the DDS is pretty short. A quick look and a pat on the ass and goodbye. Of course if there is "work" then he comes into the picture. But it has been a long long time since there was "work".

So. I will wait and see. Somehow I predict I will cancel the new appointment I have made and will start looking for another place. Or not.

Right now, doing nothing seems to be the best option. I like the little bon mot: "If in doubt do nothing". I am sure in doubt. Maybe fear to. But the answers will come as they always do.

Labels: dentist

Dentist today. Cleaning. No cavities. See the doc next time. Gotta love a day like this.

The condo painting is getting nearer. Spraying Peggy's place next door. I guess we get it tomorrow. I used the opportunity to get the palo verde tree pruned today. They took down our luscious orange flowered vine for painting. Shit. The paint better look good. Maybe it will grow back quickly.

The weather is gorgeous. Come see it.

No movie. Just teeth in the same time slot.

Labels: condo, dentist, garden, weather

HEAD CASE

No movie today.

A haircut and then off to the dentist for a cleaning.

Petsmart in between.

I had it all planned out. Then the dentist called and bumped me 20 minutes later than my appointment.

Dead time. Awful prospect.

But then, there was major construction on Ramon, the main way there.

And someone called who needed me right then.

When that was all over, I parked at the dentist and watched them demolish an apartment building across the street that had been condemned after a fire.

The fire company had come after the "accidental" fire was out and set it all ablaze again for practice.

I didn't see that part.

By the time all that was done, it was time to go in and have my teeth cleaned.

Much improvement in my "oral hygiene" which I directly attribute to the WaterPic aqua flosser I bought a year and a half ago.

All was fine with the hair too. We didn't do much to it, let it grow longer (it is pretty long already) and he shaped and tweaked it on the sides where, for some reason, the hair grows faster.

Mostly, I suppose, because it doesn't grow much on the top, by comparison.

That's the way it is with pattern baldness.

I have been trying to think of the name of that hairstyle we all laugh at, kind of redneck, where the hair on the sides is shorter than the back and it all sort of flops around. Not a wiffle.

Yes. I've got it. The mullet.

That is so not what I have. I don't want you to get the wrong idea.

Labels: dentist, hair

BY THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH

Yesterday's movie period was taken up by a visit to the dentist.

My four month checkup. A result of bad teeth and advanced age. More scraping and digging.

It turned out that I had no cavities at all. I was scolded for some deeper crevasses along the gum line.

I take a lot of this with a grain of salt. Perhaps that is why I have less than perfect teeth. I have been guilty of a life of half-way measures.

It was also my first visit since the meltdown I had with the other dental technician last time. We are incompatible. I had him before and didn't like it and somehow they had scheduled him instead of Cathy, my regular.

Things went downhill. Neither of us likes the other.

I should have left but I didn't. He made some negative notes. Cathy said she wouldn't read them when she saw certain words like "disagreeable". Good.

It is over.

I am done until June sometime. In the meantime, I am to keep those crevasses open and bloody. Or something.

FreddiesModernKungFu shows us how to floss correctly. I honestly never knew it was to be done this way. Is this right?

I am not kidding.

I did buy the Waterpik water flosser and use it every night. There is no way that it reproduces this action.

Labels: dental, dentist

BAD TEETH DAY

Well, the teeth were OK but not the experience.

I really love my dentist and put up with his technicians. There is a history.

But Kathy who has been there awhile is my gal and when I went there today "she" was 15 minutes late and it turned out that it was not her on my appointment. It was a guy who I have long avoided who was 15 minutes late.

It unraveled from there. He said I needed x-rays, the annual, and I just had them. He couldn't find the records to prove it one way or another. Then something else and then another thing and I suggested I might come back another day but he had his tool there and so I stayed.

I have no doubt that he did a good job on my teeth. Machine and pick. Then he wanted to take photos of every tooth. Never has this happened. It did not happen today. I called a halt.

Then I walked. I had my annual interview with the actual dentist in June so I had enough.

Made him put "Kathy only" on my record and confirmed my next visit is indeed with her.

He is as unhappy with me as I am with him I am sure. At one point he said that I wouldn't agree with anything he said. True.

I haven't been that steamed in quite awhile.

It caught me unawares.

Not again.

I am back there in February with my regular technician (they are not hygienists anymore, apparently)

Labels: dentist

CONSUMERS REPORT

You might remember that, at the suggestion of my dental technician, I bought a water pik for the health of my gums.

I got a portable, rechargeable model which billed itself as a substitute for flossing.

Well, I went for that immediately. I took it up exclusively. It certainly worked for the gums. I would bleed a little for the first weeks. And I quit flossing.

The technician had said that one still needed to floss. I spent almost all my life as a non-flosser and only took it up the last three or four years because I had so much tooth grief.

Now, I decided, I could put the floss down and do it with water.

I went for my four month checkup the other day and did not tell them anything about it.

She remarked alsmost immediately about how much better my gums looked, much less tartar and so on. I told her about the water pik and then unloaded the big news, no flossing.

Quite and impact. I think that they still disapprove of not flossing but the results were there. No prompting at all and they cannot deny their own assessment of my "work" on my teeth since the last time.

Labels: dentist

GAP

Another busy day. I did have one cancel this morning but another arrives in 15 minutes.

I went to the dentist yesterday.

It is not "look ma no cavities" for me today. One cavity to have a filling and another goddam crown. He will not be happy until he has all fake crockery in my mouth.

I have been out of his cash flow for quite a while so now, back in, I will be in favor. A nod, a hello. A tip of the hat from the big man as he walks the halls past his minion's doorways.

He is a nice guy and does great work and I begrudge him nothing. Happy to contribute.

I will get the crown started on Monday. The filliing as well.

Remember when I would wait weeks and months, even years, to get the work done?

On the way home, I went and set up a new pharmacy. My old one of many years duration was bought out by Walgreen which is OK and has worked fine. But, it seems, Walgreen and my insurance company no longer speak to each other. No end seen to this foreseen difficulty.

I don't use any prescription drugs, at least none that are on the list so that has been OK.

But now I am having the cataracts removed and they will need to send a script to someone for my drops and all. Expensive, I hear.

So off to the other small shop nearby. John goes there.

They were very nice and even have the on-line ordering. They will take care of any transfers. I have two. One uncovered monthly bottle and another salve that I use so seldom, I age it out every year. Make that two. Rashes.

It is very hot now. We are over the ups and downs. Nothing over 110 I think although the Volvo said 114 yesterday. I think it was the parking lot effect. I didn't look again after that.

So that is the update.

Time marches on.

Oh. The Dodgers signed Andre Etier for five years and 85 million dollars yesterday.

I am not a Dodger's fan but I am thinking of becoming an Etier follower. Actually, I am not a baseball fan either. But I will keep my eye on this one. Woof!

Labels: baseball, dentist, drugs, life

TEEEEEETH

The new partial is in my mouth as I type. How are my esssses?

The temporary plate I have had for a couple of months made the s-words a challenge. Various tests today (sister susy sitting by the seaside) have shown this new plate to be hiss proof.

And it feels good in there also.

I got a "free" ultrasonic cleaner and overnight bath too. Nice move.

So, we proclaimed ourselves done, Bruno and I. No hugs but some mutual achievement vibes.

It has taken most of a year, more if you count the work I had done on the bottom a couple years ago.

The teeth actually LOOK good. I do not have a toothy smile so it will be a challenge to get them out there for the world to see.

I had a bit of an underbite. Or had. Which is the source of most of the original problem.

The dentist I had as a kid had a cure for the underbite that went around the application of braces. It involved pushing my uppers out with my thumb.

It solved the underbite but it also spread the teeth apart so that over the years the gums got all exposed.

That and a lackadaisical attitude about ever phase of dental hygiene led me to where I am today. Or was.

Smoking, the frequent application of cocktails and straight vodka and the here and there attention to the 6 month checkup did the rest.

So I am grateful to have gotten off so easily. Now, with a mouthful of crowns and other apparatus, my teeth are straight and appear to be the originals even though, by now, there is nothing real about any of it.

They are my teeth however. Even though I had to purchase more than half of them.

The real payoff is that you will not have to hear any more of this saga.

Promise.

Labels: dentist

RETURN

We had a wonderful visit with a few of our kids.

They are still kids even though their ages are not consonant with the title.

They were here from Friday afternoon to early this morning. Hikes, eats, visits. Very nice.

And I will return to blogging more actively tomorrow.

I went, this afternoon, to test the "frame" of my partial denture. It fit "perfectly", said he and then proceeded to perfect it some more.

Shock is that it is made of titanium! What next. The new best material.

It is very shiny and a little shocking in its silverness.

But it will be fine. I am going back mid-day Monday to, I hope, pick it up forever. They don't put the teeth into the frame until they know all is well. All that titanium.

I started a cold the day the kids arrived and it is still with me. I would give it a 3 on the scale of five. In the middle for discomfort. It has not gone to my bronchs and the runniness is over. I skipped the gym two days so far but I think I will go back in tomorrow. I am already feeling it.

So that is it.

Now time to get supper going. Everything is running late today but it is OK. I have had a happy time.

Labels: blogging, dentist, family

TRIPLE CROWN

Today was the long awaited (two weeks) installation of the permanent crowns. Three of them.

He wanted to put them all in together so there "bite" would match or align or something.

It took longer than I thought but cost less.

Actually, I am done paying for all of this.

He also took the impression for my permanent partial. The frame will be in in a week or so and we will fit that. Then the "teeth" get put in the approved frame and that takes another week and then we will be done.

Done.

Done.

Nothing planned for the future.

Labels: dentist

ROOT IT OUT

Today's movie was in the dental chair.

They were playing court teevee. My god it is an awful thing. Nancy Grace and a bunch of ghouls. Another mother accused of killing her little girl.

I rated it a 1 and asked them to turn the thing off.

I was there to get a root canal and to prepare the way for three crowns. One over the root and two others on the remaining front teeth after the extraction two weeks ago.

I was a little apprehensive about doing all that at once but he assured me that I (anyone) could take it and that it made for a faster completion of the work to be done. Also that it improved his cash flow.

No he didn't say that.

I have a major discount on the work as most dentists in the valley have just adopted a plan offered by the biggest dental insurance company. It is a discount card that you pay for. 90-120 a year and you get (I think this is the deal) the same rates at the dentist as they would pay if you had insurance). It is not insurance.

I figured they jacked up all their prices and this is the old price structure but I guess not. Also it would be a come-on for people who wanted the insurance.

Anyway I got a "discount" of 1200 dollars. Pretty good, I think.

He said I would have some pain but I am using the combo of ibuprofen and acetaminophen which "they" say is more powerful than some of the opiates. You use full dose of each. They do not fight but rather enhance each other.

Incidentally, the root canal did not hurt. I am one of those guys who once had a tooth removed rather than go to get a root canal.

This guy is painless.

Labels: dentist

NO MOVIE TODAY, TEETH

In a little while I am going to have remaining stitches removed where the two front teeth came out.

It has been two weeks.

I will also get a routine cleaning while I am there. Two birds with one stone.

Then there is the decision about the next steps with the few real teeth remaining in front.

It is written down someplace. Let me see.

Root canal, including a prefab post and core in one of the teeth, then three crowns.

Then, the grand finale, a partial made of gold alloy that he says will last fifteen years. I will be 90.

Labels: dentist

DENTAL REPORT

I got two front teeth pulled on Tuesday. I am dealing with the aftermath pretty well.

I get to take out the new partial tonight. It was left in for two days to help reduce the swelling.

I am less sore. I don't quite pass the "pretzel test" yet but I can eat almost everything as long as I mostly keep it on the right side. The left is mostly plate and the plate pushes a bit much on the raw guys.

I can bite down on bare teeth and it is only a nudge. No pain.

Of course, I am still on two Ibuprofen and two Tylenol four times a day. But that was little help yesterday on the raw gum. Today, much better.

I am not much aware of it in the times that I am not eating. I try the bitedown occasionally. Just to see. Like sticking your tongue into a sore spot. Which it is.

That's it. I am pleased with the progress and predict a rapid recovery. Maybe a week after T-day.

Labels: dentist

OUT TAKE

Today's movie was a trip to the dentists office to have two front teeth extracted, bone graft implanted (the cow or artificial kind, I don't know which), a sew up and the fitting of a temporary plate which I will wear for two days before routine removal for cleaning and overnight soaking. This will keep the swelling down. Hard to believe but true.

The whole thing took about 25 minutes. This guy is good and fast.

I will have pain and I can take ibuprofen or ibuprofen and tylenol, the combination being a new trick to alleviate pain which is even superior to some narcotics which I prefer not to take both because I don't like the effect and because as an alcoholic it is walking a little bit toward the wild side.

I was never into pills or narcotics but it is not wise to mess with them unless absolutely prescribed and ordered by the doc.

It is a little sore now and will remain so for a week or so. I go back in two weeks for a look-see.

Almost none of the things I worried about happened. So far.

The next step after this heals is to take care of some remaining teeth. A root canal perhaps and a crown or two. Then, a new permanent plate which will last for 15 years or more. This one is just plastic.

Labels: dentist

WORK

Today was the day of reckoning.

I have been putting off needed work on my upper front teeth for about three years. He wanted to do them all together but I demurred and took the "wait until you need it" approach. Which, actually, he approved.

But this past week I have had an infection in the tooth that is very loose, a pocket infection as it turns out, and it will have to be pulled. Even now, I could wait and just take antibiotics but that is going too far, I think. The tooth has never felt "loose" but now it does. So the process is started.

Next week, he will take two front teeth (there is another tooth that is bad) and put in a temporary plate. A partial. My old one will not accommodate the new spaces. He will put a "bone" graft in the base to stabilize it. Not real bone. No cadavers.

Then we will wait for healing and get the new partial.

In the meantime he will work on the two or three surrounding teeth which will probably involve a route canal and three crowns.

OK. Here we go. Cash in the mouth. He can take that trip to Paris.

I am OK with it. He says the new partial will last 15 years. I have had this one at least that long and I can feel the wires as they are getting exposed by wear.

Time to get it done.

Labels: dentist

DENTAL DEMOLITION DERBY

I went to the dentist yesterday.

It can make me crazy.

Not over the usual pain thing. This guy, who is really really good, a French Canadian who is so handsome that I want to do what he wants me to do.

But I won't. I am rebellious.

He wants to redo my upper mouth all at once. I don't want to spend the money or take out what really doesn't yet have to come out. It is a battlefield. Nicely played. Professionally. But I often feel in a bind and get mental tantrums beforehand about when and under what condition I will walk out. Or tell him to fuck off. I never do, but still.

Well, no battles this time. He came in, smelled as nice as ever, hovered over the xrays, went over my mouth and talked about the fact that sooner or later we would address the uppers but when we needed to.

I felt like I had WON. But not really. I had done the letting go of it, to not to make it a battle. And he, more or less, has come to see it my way. Maybe he is just sick of the tug of war.

Maybe his cash position has improved. See? I still have suspicions.

Did I mention that this has been going on for four or five years?

Anyway, I have no cavities and go back in October.

Labels: dentist

CROWNED

Got the permanent crown today. So far so good.

It didn't hurt and it still wiped me out.

A lot of pushing and shoving.

I cut the day a bit short and added some minutes to a nap. Naps rule.

There is still more work to be done on the top but I am taking a break. He didn't sell at the end today and I didn't volunteer.

I think that I will wait until the next exam and cleaning and see what happens then.

Labels: dentist

CROWNED

Another dental checkup, another crown.

Today the teeth got cleaned and I had a seance with my dentist.

I had been resisting new work as some of it seems to be a bit too close to his cash flow but that is only my perception. If I take it a tooth at a time, this one clearly needs to be taken care of.

It is a long story but the basic reality is that I have lousy teeth.

He has taken good care of the entire bottom, restored, and now is headed for the top. And if I want to live a long time I better take my teeth with me. I don't want to be eating pea soup in my declining years. Which have not started yet, incidentally.

Labels: dentist

TOOTHSOME

I went to the dentist today for my four or five month checkup.

There was yet another dental technician. She was pretty good but the turnover bothers me.

There was also the Thursday sub for Dr. Bruno.

I got my next appointment so that he will be there.

The sub had too much hair gel and a cursory, to say nothing of curt, attitude.

But, good news here, there is no change in my tooth situation and I had all new x-rays.

This is a first.

I like the real dentist. I like the office. I do get the feeling, at times, that they are upselling me a little.

Today the tech showed me a new non-brush brush. Electric. It rubs into the space between the teeth.

I told her I used Stimudent.

I am up for some serious crown work to "save" the top teeth which, when I first went to him, we were going to just let go and get a plate.

Then he had this proposal to save them.

I am dragging my feet. Perhaps having the big guy the next time I visit will yield a decision on this topic.

The sub is/was clueless. Hair gel clouds the mind.

Labels: dentist