The next decade....what's in store?
Musings of a yamfooted traveller still trying to shake off those last 20 pounds as she treks across the Caribbean
.....Paaaarty!
Had to go to work for 4am yesterday so came home and slept during the day and again when I finally left work. Just checking mail, blog and facebook before I go and get ready to hit the town.
I don't expect to be home before the sun rises. Ah cyan wait, ah cyan wait.......
Then tomorrow it's a country run to the second towm where they have a street lime/lyme every end of month.
And in the night, it's the dancehall legend live in downtown St George's.
In between, to the market I go (not for a piggy-ti-pig-pig), maybe to the gym (haven't been since I returned from Jamaica) and also to the beach.
Am sooooooooo looking forward to it. Anyway, time to get ready.
I considered not going, even up to the last minute. But I am strong, I thought, so why should a pair of forceps frighten me?
Hah!
Got there and there were a few (two) patients waiting ahead of me. I told the ladies I would come back. They advised me not to leave because the dentist might call me anytime. I was trying to get them to let me go for 20 minutes, and then I mightn't have come back. But I listened to them. Good thing I did because the dentist called me soon after.
After chit chatting about Jamaica's disastrous performance in the Stanford 20/20 final last night, he aimed the needle at my gum. I gurgled, like a puppy getting its first shots. The dentist was laughing so hard, he had to stop. One injection down, he aimed again. Same reaction from me....same reaction from him. He then said he has had patients make sounds before but mine was the strangest.
I had asked him to tell me how long it would take to yank the tooth out. He said in about the same time as it takes for one of Jerome Taylor's balls to reach the batsman. Oh! Real quick. Goody.
He did a pain check. Everything was in order. The knock-out medicine was good. Then came the forceps. With his first hold of the tooth, I heard the sensation of the tooth being ripped from its roots. Mind you, I could FEEL nothing. But the mind is a helluva thing and so I envisioned what was happening and assumed what I should be feeling.
He stopped for a bit, and I took the opportunity to reach for the assistant's hand. As he yanked, I squeezed. I don't know how I didnt break her fingers.
In quick time, it was out, the gauze was in, and the worst was over. But I felt like a part of me had been ripped out. It's psychological. You see, I always get compliments about my smile and teeth. Now my crowning glory has been altered.
I immediately asked him about stopping up the gap. A denture is an option, and so are implants. Maybe I will go for the latter. Some how, I don't think the cutting of the gum to put the implant will be as traumatic as the yanking. Again it's mental. I will know that it will be restoring my glorious smile, and so that will make everything feel better....I hope!
Oh, I asked him for the tooth. He told me that the Tooth Fairy stopped working long, at my age! It's now in a bottle being bleached. Then I will keep it as a memento of the day when I became Baby Toothless.
I am having second thoughts about yanking out the tooth today. Especially too since the swelling on my gum has gone down.
But I should think about all the days I get pain there, and the tooth really feels like it should not be in my mouth. Lemme go sleep on it......
Through Facebook, I found out that there was going to a be a lunar eclipse tonight so walked with the camera to cocktails. Good thing I did, as I was able to capture the stages of the the eclipse.
Here are a few photos from my camera...
Well, lemme start from the very beginning....that's usually a very good place to start.
and then.....darkness
In 1986, I spent the summer obsessing over my missing tooth. It was bound to happen...
Genes is a helluva thing and I noticed that the parents had some baby teeth during their adult years..and then they were missing. One day many many years ago, I was at the dentist (I go regularly) and she said to me "you know that these are still baby teeth?" What???? By this time, I was a horse back adult.
What did this mean? It meant that when they fell out, nothing would grow to replace them. So in 1986, one started to rock rather badly. The end was near. Went to the dentist one Saturday morning (it was a Polish lady) and she finished the job off. I went to work on Monday and asked my then boss (summer job while a UWI student) if he could see the gap when I smiled. He reassured me that I was obsessing unnecessarily. (Kelly, this is your brother's father-in-law I am talking about). So I resumed my big smile.
Fast forward 22 years (when I was counting it up today for the dentist, I said "eegad...already????"). Two days ago my gum over the other side starts to hurt....AND...there is swelling. So after speaking with a colleague today about it, she suggests I go to the dentist. Off I go. He says it's more than likely an infection, do I know it's a baby tooth, did they do an x-ray to check that there was none hiding in the gum (I think so) and I should be thinking about taking it out.
He was all suited up ready to take it out right there and then.
No!!!!!!!!!! I exclaimed
Why? he asked.
"Because I am not prepared," I said. He said he was quite prepared. I explained I had guest cocktails later, so he said ok, it probably is best that I don't do it today.
I told him I had to prepare mentally for my tooth to be yanked out with a jack hammer. He laughed and said it was quite a simple process, even though the tooth is not shaking. I envisioned him yanking...... rocking......pulling hard. He said I would get local anesthesia, he would use forceps and it would be over in a jiffy.
But then I would be toothless for the rest of my life! I suppose I could put in one of them false teeth. Ah....aging is a helluva thing. To be fair though, that tooth did last me all of nearly 42 years, so I shouldn't really complain. In preparation, I am going to the hairdresser later this week!
For those of you having the winter blues....cheer up with these pictures....
What I would give now to be able to sleep until whenever I decide to wake up, rather than HAVING to get up at a certain time because I HAVE to go to work at a certain time.
Don't get me wrong....I love my job....but I also love my sleep.
Ah well, am on a day off again on Monday. Last week Monday it rained thereby making a tan impossible. I must go and check the forecast and see what is in store for Monday.
It's funny.....for the four years I lived here the first time, I probably went to the beach half a dozen times, but I am finding that these days, every opportunity I get, I am at the beach. I always go alone, and I almost never go in the water. There is just something special when you come from Kingston, to be able to drive 2 minutes and reach any of two lovely beaches, sit on the sand and not have harrassers bothering you.
Motorsports is not a popular sport in the Caribbean I don't think....well not as popular as cricket and football for sure.
Who follows Formula 1? I started watching in the early 1990's when I was working in the UK. I like driving so I guess it's a natural thing to be interested in that, but also I am a sports fanatic. Take me to a sporting event guys, if you want to get a foot in with me. No romantic dinner for me!
Anyway, if I asked you who is Lewis Hamilton, would you be able to tell me without googling him?