Further ramblings of a self-made pauper

Well it seems that one decision has been made for me. I had been putting it off for a month or two, but now I don’t think I can. This is the trouble with dentistry – once you get involved with them it’s a domino effect inside your mouth. They either find new things to pay for putting their kids through college, or leave little dental time bombs so you volunteer to pay them the money they need to put their kids through college. Either way, Gentle Reader, the loser is most decidedly not the dentist.

Having – you should forgive the phrase – bitten the bullet and gone to the dentists for the first time in many years, I have had two fillings and one extraction. The decision I have been putting off is whether to pay £400 for a crown that they cannot guarantee or simply have that tooth extracted too, leaving me with a corking gap on the left. Long-time readers will know that I have a fear of dentistry; an atavistic horror that has only partially been assuaged by recent experiences. Despite this, I was leaning toward the expensive gamble of the crown that may not take. I don’t really want more gaps than I need. Sadly, finances may mean that I have to go for a simple extraction.

Last night there was a twinge in the tooth in question. Not enough to disturb me badly and certainly not enough to keep me awake last night, but during the day today there has been the occasional throb - not a continuous ache, but certainly the odd wave of ache. I have been to Boots and purchased my favourite paracetamol and codeine painkillers just to keep it under control. I’ll see how it goes for the next couple of days, but if it keeps up I shall have to pay a visit again. With the move I cannot afford a crown, so the cavernous gap on the left it may well be.

Bum.

It's just turned midnight and I find that I must iron a shirt for tomorrow. I have learnt from the emergency hotline, that the office will have power tomorrow (indeed it has power now), and that we are all expected to turn up and earn our pittance.

There is, of course, one caveat: the air conditioning will only be operating at about 50% efficiency. Chiz, and indeed, curses. Fatties like me depend upon such amenities in the summer (and let's be frank, they're pretty good in the winter, too). I mean, they took the time out to fix the rest of the circuitry, why not the air conditioning? Are we to work in a mediaeval sweatshop, like some far eastern textile worker? I say, no! Never! To the barricades!

Oh, who am I kidding?

Iron shirt, shave, take shower and go to bed. It's a school night.

Grumble.

(And by the way, I hate the US English spell checker on this thing. If I want to use learn as a hard verb, I bloody well shall, thank you very much).