Never let it be said that I am not a patient man. Case in point, at the dentist yesterday I had to get there by 8:30 in order to get my tooth pulled or root canal done. Well, I actually did make it there in time, thanks to calls from Peetey and Holly. Then the waiting began. When I first walked in they asked for my insurance. So I gave it to them and they said they spent a half hour trying to get the information and gave up. As 9:30 arrived I saw people coming and going into the office. I sat there waiting. As 10:30 arrived I was like, ok I am going to say something. So I went up and said "I have been here to for 2 hours" they said, "oh I'll see what's happening" and was told to wait some more. By 11:30 I had reached the point of no turning back. I was either going to get totally mad or to change my attitude. That is something about me, if things get real bad I always change my attitude so I can go through life happy, despite the circumstances. By 12:00 I was finally called back to the office, at which point they asked if I had insurance. Finally the actual dentist was like," I'll take care of this." and they went through the process of adding my insurance carrier to their database. Then I told the dentist I didn't want a root canal and wanted to get it pulled. At which point she said," I'll see if the oral surgeon is available, you might have to reschedule". I happily reminded her that I had been there for 4 hours and was willing to go to the emergency room to get my tooth pulled. Then all of a sudden the insurance went through and she said I should get a root canal and "save the tooth". So I gave in, and for the next 2 hours went through the grueling process of getting the roots scraped out of the farthest back tooth on the top left. I heard my dentist say every 5 minutes," this is a real small mouth." I was told by one other dentist to use a baby toothbrush because the width of a normal toothbrush couldn't reach back there. My jaw is still hurting and I am thankful for the vicodin prescribed. I am just glad it is over, until I get the crown put in in three weeks. I now know why my grandparents were so adamant about my teeth. If you don't take care of them it could cost you, in money and in time...

Thought of the Day
"My face is all craggly, it's crinkly!"
"It's from all that smoke. You've experienced a lifetime of smoking in seventy-two hours. What did you expect?"
"Emphysema, birth defects, cancer. But not this. Jerry, my face is my livelihood. Everything I have I owe to this face."
"And your teeth, your teeth are all brown."
"Look away, I'm hideous."
- Kramer and Jerry, in "The Abstinence"