smacky and bucky

Well, it took the full two hours (plus a little longer). The dentist kept asking "Wanna take a break? Wanna stand up? Wanna rinse?" I just kept saying "No, let's finish this." I now have TWO new temporary crowns, one upper right, one lower right. Why on Earth did my teeth go to hell recently? My mother postulates it's because I spent two years in Africa, with no fluoride in the water, and a diet of rice and spaghetti. It's certainly a possibility, and as good a reason as any I can come up with. I would have thought two years with almost no sweets or food with preservatives would have actually been good for my teeth, but maybe Americans have ingested so many preservatives we now need them to maintain equilibrium. Shrug.

When the procedure was over and I was standing in the garage waiting for them to bring my car up, I noticed that I had received so much novacaine my right eyelid was actually sagging a little. Nice.

Anyway, the "pimpin'" note in the title is because the dentist informed me that he strongly recommends putting in a gold crown in the upper right, because it's stronger material and allows him to save more of the tooth. Before you get any mental images, the tooth is in the very back, so no one will see it unless I open very wide. It's not like I'm suddenly Flava Flav (or Smacky Smack!). My wife said "Well, at least I'll be able to identify you with dental records." WTF? I hope she was joking...

Our soon-to-be-ex realtor has a meeting scheduled for Sunday evening with a couple very interested in the house. If he doesn't land a deal, he's going to lose us, and all the money and time he spent on us all summer. He's motivated, and I hope he pulls it off. Can you believe it's still on the market? In our zipcode there are 40 houses on the market, and 33 of them cost more than ours, and 3 are the exact same price. The paper has been publishing articles about the slowing of the market around here. A long hot (HOT) summer didn't help, and gas prices are probably becoming a factor now. Great. I'm so happy Bush gave us those $300 tax refund checks a few years ago. That really helped save the economy. The fact we can pay all these different mortgages each month and not eat a diet of dog food is astounding. Yes, I suppose "astounding" is my word of the week.