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.

I'll probably regret it in the morning, but I have just run the clippers over my pate and cut my beard back to a goatee.

It all took longer than it should; I think I shall have to dismantle the clippers for a good clean and oil before I use them next time. Or maybe buy a new set. They seem to need stripping down more and more frequently these days and I fear that the motor is probably not as strong as it once was. The reason I think I might buy a spare set is that I have a horror of the damned things packing up completely while I am part way through trimming my hair, so at best I should have to go out with a reverse Mohican, and at worst look like someone suffering from radiation sickness.

I like to think that I am no more than normally vain, but I do have some pride (and an astonishingly low embarrassment threshold in certain circumstances).

My first hair trim of the year is usually the signal for a bout of cold weather, but like the timing of the full moon, I cannot control the rate of hair growth, so sometimes I shaves me bonce earlier than I'd like. So like Punxsutawney Phil, I predict a further six weeks of winter.

Odd that my usually infallible right ankle didn't predict today's bout of cold rain, though. Make of that what you will.