Words are inadequate

This is what I mean when I say I'm ridiculously lucky:

I have awful teeth, have had since pretty much forever. Orthodontia since third grade, a year and a half of braces, crowns and root canals on six or seven of my back molars, all that. In retrospect this all started when I mixed a hardwood floor, a blanket, and a running start at the age of four and had a root canal in one of my baby teeth. I'm used to dentists, is what I'm saying.

I'd been going to the same dentist since we got to Vancouver but I hadn't been totally happy with her. So when I got laid off and my insurance lapsed, it seemed like a fine time to just forget to go in for cleanings and such. And when I got a new job, insurance didn't kick in for three months, and then I just didn't feel like bothering. I didn't want to go back to my old dentist, and I didn't want to go through the hassle of finding a new one.

One of the crowns that I got in DC has been giving me a bit of trouble since I got it: it was painful to put in place, it didn't sit right on my bite, and there was a little lip at the base of it that caught when I flossed. On Satyrday night, while we were at a small local gaming convention (playing Die Steven Seagal[1]), I bit down on a lollipop stick and felt something give way.

The entire crown above the gumline had sheared off.

"How on earth," you ask, "is that lucky?"

It doesn't hurt, thanks to the root canal.

My insurance kicked in two months ago. (Emily's doesn't until next month, so it could have been better, but half covered is better than none.)

And when, spurred by the sudden need for a dentist, I complained about my lack of same, David recommended his. I went today for a cleaning and checkup and prepwork for tooth/crown replacement and he seems likely to be the best dentist I've had since I left Dr Ankrum in Blacksburg. And who had a last-minute cancellation, so that I could get my teeth cleaned during the prelim appointment.

Lucky.

[1] A German trick-taking/bidding card game that's really named Die Sieben Siegel, or The Seven Signs/Seals. It comes with a standup figure, the Traitor, that you can take as your bid if no one else has and you feel like just mucking with everyone else. Naturally we refer to the Traitor as Steven Seagal...

The convention was pretty good, too: played some heavier games, some lighter ones, a really good round of Tichu, and on Sunday wrangled thirteen people in three 18xx games.

And tonight we just got back from seeing The Big Short, which is very good and avoids being horrendously depressing by being extremely funny in a dark way. Relatedly, I am growing accustomed to the idea that I will sometimes be the only one laughing in smart movies. At least I had uilos there laughing with me tonight.

FEMINIST HULK SMASH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MS.!: "HULK LOVE POLYSYLLABIC WORDS. HULK NUZZLE BIG GREEN FACE INTO RICHLY WRITTEN FEMINIST TEXTS. ALSO, THIS JUST HOW HULK TALK."

So Much Space: "For me, 3 miles is a a rather generous estimate of the radius of my every day life. For many, 3 miles is the minimum distance to anything." I have a strong desire to be in the former situation rather than the latter.

Straylight required a new battery and an adjustment to the charging cycle so that it wouldn't kill the battery again. I have no idea what went wrong and I didn't ask; I was running later for my dentist appointment. At which she successfully numbed me up and, um, canaled my root, which was far less pornographic than it sounds. (She also recognised, or claimed to recognise, the Gywneth Jones book I was reading, and was surprised to hear that I'm not a professor.) It's odd to not have any more cold sensitivity in the teeth on that side.

Last night I dreamed that work had moved into DC. I broke three eggs into paper cups to bring them from the work kitchen to the office, and then I had to go out to an office supply store to buy printer paper. I couldn't see one from where I was, so I asked Sara B-- from high school, who was running around upset that she'd lost something. Snow was falling when I came back, so I stayed out in the snow for awhile. Not only do I sleep better when I don't dream (excuse me, "don't remember my dreams, or in fact remember that i dreamed at all"), I wake up feeling a lot less baffled by my brain.

so i went to the dentist. and while poking around on my molars for cavities he came to the one that's been hurting and looked at it for a second and said "yeah, i don't think i'll poke on that one."

i get to go in next friday for what will most likely be a root canal. and my insurance will only cover half the costs for a root canal. ouch.

other than that and a filling that came loose on one of my upper molars my teeth are in surprisingly good shape, though. this makes me happy. well, happier.