“People will pay you to be inhumane”
Filed Under Life
Yesterday I had two wisdom teeth yanked out of my head.
They were on the top, one on each side of my mouth. They came in at a really funky angle that was impossible to clean and occasionally uncomfortable. I am happy to be rid of them.
The process was not fun. In fact, I’d say it was the worst procedure I’ve ever experienced while conscious. The dentist pulled the one on the left first—afterward he said he started there because it looked easier—and it took some time. He ended up having to break it into four or five main pieces. I gather the fact that it was rife with cavities made it tougher to get a good grip. A couple times I caught a loose piece and extended my tongue so he could remove it.
He’d warned about the noises, but it was still really disturbing to hear him digging around in there. When he snapped the tooth, it was loud but easy to envision. The worst part was imagining what might happen if he slipped. I imagined serious damage to my other teeth, torn membranes, broken bone, shredded sinuses.
I spent a lot of time clutching the chair, crossing and uncrossing my legs, and a couple times he stopped to see if I was okay. At which point I would explain I was merely freaked out, not in pain (the local anesthetic worked as advertised, and while I could feel the promised pressure I didn’t have any problem dealing with it), and that unless I raised my hand he should ignore any physical expressions of unhappiness.
Eventually he got it out. And the second one took like a minute and a half. It didn’t quite pop out, but it came close (certainly by comparison).
Jokes about sadistic dentists aside, I like my guy. He actually called and left a voicemail last night to follow up and make sure things were okay. (They were: OTC painkillers were sufficient, though my mouth was sore. I used it as an excuse to take it easy and eat ice cream for dinner.)
Of course, I’m also favorably disposed toward him because he’s given me mostly good news, even when I don’t deserve it. I let over ten years elapse before seeing a dentist. (That was just me being irresponsible. I don’t like having somebody stick pointy things in my mouth, but I’ve never been afraid of dentists. And for the bulk of my adult life I’ve had dental insurance. So there was really no excuse.) I needed two fillings, which went in a month or so ago and match my enamel pretty well. And there’s one more wisdom tooth on my lower jaw, which my dentist doesn’t want to touch; I’ve been referred to an oral surgeon, but since it isn’t causing any actual problems right now I’m not too concerned. But apparently my gums are healthy, and that’s his main concern.
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Nine years
Filed Under Life
Joanne Merriam’s “Werepenguin” seems like a suitable link on our wedding anniversary. It also spares me from having to get all mushy, and you from having to read it.
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Re: Resolutions
Filed Under Life, New Year's Resolutions
1a: Check
3: Check
#3 has become more pleasant, because my wonderful husband got a pair of $10 mp3 players that were wooted a couple weeks ago. Two sessions on the elliptical reminded me that no, I really do not like earbuds at all. (They don’t fall out—though they always feel like they’re about to—but my ears hurt afterward and I worry that even 20 minutes has damaged my hearing.) But now I have actual headphones. “Skullcrusher Mountain” is my current favorite workout song, though “Mandelbrot Set,” “Chiron Beta Prime,” “IKEA,” and “Creepy Doll” are right up there, too. This means I can do more than 15 or 20 minutes on the elliptical without going insane, therefore I can skip the bike because I don’t need to stave off madness with a trade paperback.
Things I accomplished this week
Filed Under Life, Knitting, Daleks, Skiing
Skiing! For five days. Really enjoyed it. Did not experience the debilitating lower leg pain that made this year’s first outing, and the final one last year, so unpleasant (and short). I’m still not a good skier, but I’m back to functional and have reconfirmed that I really like my equipment. I had previously done some of Mount Snow’s blue trails, and did more this time. (Spring Mountain claims I have done a black diamond, but their black diamond is neither black nor diamond.) I also went farther up the mountain than I have before. This was an accident—the bottom part of one trail was closed, so Larry and I had to ski over to a different lift—but a happy one. I enjoyed the longer trail down, though doing it as the last run on the last day was a bit tough. But I’m walking normally again, with limited twinges. I also had the experience of skiing on soft white stuff. Since my skiing experience is limited to the east (what is this “pow-der” of which you speak?) this was a surprising departure from crunchy or slushy, but I rather liked it.
Obtained goggles! Given the wind on a couple days, this was a wise purchase. Admittedly, it would’ve been wiser at the beginning of the week, not the middle….
Outlet shopping! Okay, I’m not really into outlet shopping. But it was a fun group outing, and I got some things I like, which I would never have bought at full price.
Parmesan encrusted tilapia! Cheaper and cheesier than crack.
Hot tubs and heated pool! Because it’s an awful lot of fun to sit in a warm bath while snow falls and your hair freezes.
Knitting! Made and attached Dalek appendages. Modified the pattern so the eyestalk ends in a black bulb with a bit of gray yarn in the center for contrast. (Because dude, I know what a Dalek’s eyestalk looks like, and it’s not just undifferentiated gray.) Partially stuffed Dalek (which still lacks a base). Determined that it looks much more Dalek-like when stuffed. Also determined that the bobbles and eyestalk on the head are not centered over the gun and manipulator arm. I am not particularly upset about this, because Daleks are perfectly capable of turning their heads, so I guess mine just thinks there’s something interesting off to the right.
Obtained glasses! They fit reasonably well, and unlike contacts they correct my astigmatism. Most importantly, they came with a beefy case. It’s not Kiko-proof, but will stand up better than the old case, which was soft, velcro-based thing.
Received flooring quote! This is actually a big deal. The first people we asked for a quote came to measure but never contacted us after that; the second could only give us a quote on the living room, not the basement. Paid flooring people a substantial deposit. Encountered no unpleasant divisiveness over color or materials, despite the fact that Larry’s dislike of browns eliminated many of our carpet color options. Not that it makes him a bad person or anything, and burgundy’s a perfectly dandy color. But I’m just saying.
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Culture shock
Filed Under Life, Knitting, Daleks, Dancing
In the past week, I experienced two sharp moments of culture shock.
The first occurred at a wedding. Each place setting had a Christmas cracker. Before we were seated, the DJ wove through the crowd, informing everyone of the timing for pulling open the crackers (when the bride and groom were announced), the request that we all wear the paper crowns (duh)—and, shockingly, a basic explanation of Christmas crackers.
It may bear mentioning that in recent generations my relatives who did not come from North Wales came from Liverpool, so I undoubtedly had a more Anglo-centric upbringing than most. I absorbed Doctor Who years before Star Trek, and my impressions of the veterinary profession were formed watching All Creatures Great and Small. When I was a kid, we’d take an early winter day trip to Ontario for shopping. Along with other UK themed yummies, we’d buy Christmas crackers for dinner on Christmas Eve.
So I expressed my shock to Larry; while he is better acquainted with Christmas crackers than your average Jew, he didn’t have any difficulty understanding how some people might not have encountered them. And indeed, an informal survey of a few guests (and random folks in the past several days) confirms that intelligent and generally well-informed adults can be ignorant of this particular cultural artifact.
The second shocking thing occurred when I brought my knitting to the Hogmanay recovery party. Several people asked what I was knitting, and I simply said “A Dalek” and showed them the picture on my printout of the pattern. A subset of those people asked if it was going to be a tea cozy.
Even my public knitting tends to take place in informal settings, and I am used to people recognizing a Dalek. This isn’t so much the Anglo-centrism as geek-centrism. I am always a bit surprised to find such glaringly imperfect overlap of geekdoms.
Though I will admit, in the picture the stuffed Daleks do kind of look like tea cozies.
The year so far
Filed Under Life, Knitting, Dancing
Not much has happened in 2008. Some good stuff happened at the end of 2007, and I have chosen to attribute those things to 2008. There were many happy socialization opportunities in recent weeks, people visited from out of town, Hogmanay was a lot of fun, there was a lot of good music (formal and informal), and I discovered I’d messed up my first batch of bobbles so they’re much easier to deal with now.
Resolved
Filed Under Life, Shred of Evidence, Writing, New Year's Resolutions
A few of the things I want to do in 2008:
1. Lose weight. (10 lbs. = required, 20 lbs. = strongly desired, 30 lbs. = very nice, 30+ lbs. = unlikely without use of a tapeworm.)
2. Explore tapeworm options.
3. Continue going to the gym regularly when it’s open. (Alum pricing is very nice; academic schedule, not so much.)
4. The Samhain writing goals I didn’t meet.
5. Quicker turn-around for Shred submissions. (I should be aiming for one month and not beating myself up over three, rather than aiming for three and congratulating myself for anything faster.)
There are a bunch of others, but if I talk about them prematurely something’s liable to go wrong.
I’m off to Hogmanay tonight. See you in 2008.
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2007 in review
Filed Under Life
On a personal level, 2007 sucked. I am not sad to see it go, though I’m not sure I’m too psyched for 2008.
I could do a best of list for books, movies, stories, or whatnot, but I’m too lazy. Anyone strangely eager to read my opinions is welcome to check the archives. I certainly haven’t cataloged everything I enjoyed, but there’s a smattering. Nor did I talk about everything I hated, but you don’t really need to hear me rant about politics or I Am Legend, do you?
Miscellaneous thoughts
Filed Under Life, Music, Games, Knitting
I’ve had “Still Alive” stuck in my head for several days. Oddly, I do not find this fact particularly irritating.
I have not gotten around to actually playing Portal. I’m not a big FPS fan—in no small part because I’m not very good—but I’ll give this one a whirl.
Went skiing Thursday night, got the misery of the first run out of the way. I misused my legs, and my calves were very unhappy with me yesterday afternoon and evening. They’re beginning to forgive me.
I really, really hate bobbles.
Happy Hanukkah!
Filed Under Life
If you are lighting candles, please endeavor not to burn your house down. It would make Judah Maccabee sad.
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