2002-09-16 - 11:12 p.m.

A Visit To The Tooth Nazi

Today, apropos of nothing, I am feeling better. While not exactly running around like my hair was on fire, I'm enjoying having my usual energy level again. Maybe yesterday I spaced my meals too far apart? Or it may just be something about Sundays that bums me out. I can't help but remember Erika Jong's rant about Sundays in Fear of Flying, how they always depress her.

Anyway! Today I couldn't afford to lolligag around because I had a dentist appointment.

I've been going to the same dentist for many years, probably ever since I was in middle school or something like that. To tell the truth I seldom actually SEE my dentist, usually I'm taken care of by a dental hygienist who cleans and checks my teeth, a woman that I guess is in her early 50s now.

Lily, who also goes to the same dentist and sees the same hygienist, doesn't like this lady at all. She thinks that the woman is unnecessarily rough and hurtful, and she calls her "the Tooth Nazi."

I was surprised that Lily had this attitude, because I only thought it hurt because there was something the matter with me, I hadn't been taking care of my teeth properly or something. Then it occurred to me that she had a point - because of my gum problems I've been seeing another dentist and the hygienists there are nowhere near as rough.

The lady doesn't seem to be mean, in fact I've always found her kind of pleasant, but DAMN she does put the hurtin' on when I sit in that chair.

Well, today there was good news and bad news.

The good news was that this was my least painful visit to the dentist in the long time. I've been making a special point to take better care of my teeth, and the hygienist even commented that I was much improved.

The bad news, however, is that I have two cavities, and I have to go back and see them on Thursday to get them taken care of. Oh joy. THAT should be a lot of fun.

The two cavities are actually a matched set - one is on the outside of the big molar on the lower left side, and the other is on the same place on my lower right. Because my gums are receding, the part of the tooth that isn't covered by enamel is partially exposed, and that's the part that has the decay.

Damn, getting old sucks.

I really can't imagine what the logistics of putting a filling in such a difficult place is going to be, in fact I'd rather not imagine it at all! All I know is that I'm going to have a hurt face on Thursday, and I assume the doctor knows how to handle it.

The hygienist asked if I liked to have hard candies in my cheeks, and I told her no. I used to be quite the candyholic, but now I'm pretty much cold turkey on my low carb diet.

In fact, last night when I went shopping I felt so peaked that I bought a Snickers bar. I didn't buy it because I craved chocolate, I bought it because I wanted to have some sugar in case I felt like passing out. However, I got through the shopping trip without incident, and I still have the Snickers bar. What to do with it? If I give it to the hamsters they'll just sleep on it, and it will melt and get all over their fur.

I seem to have this on/off switch for craving sweets, and it seems to be in the off position now. The Snickers bar is sitting right out on the counter, and there are other candies in various cupboards, and I could care less. Willpower seems to have nothing to do with it.

Also, today I tried my hand at making pot roast using Lily's recipe that I got out of her notebook. It actually turned out very well, tasting practically just like hers. Of course, there were a couple modifications because I got a little carried away.

The recipe calls for a "5 1/2 pound roast." I couldn't find one that big, so I settled for one that was 4 1/2 pounds. However, when I got it home I discovered that it was MUCH bigger than the roasts I'd seen Lily cooking, maybe twice as big. Well, after all we are only two people, why buy six pounds of meat? She simply kept the other ingredients the same, and bought a more modest roast. Of course I wasn't bright enough to think of that.

That's when I encountered a logistical problem. The roast wouldn't fit in the pot that Lily usually uses, so I had to move up to the biggest pot I had, the one we usually boil spaghetti in. The roast fit in there fine, but when I added all the ingredients of the marinade to the pot, it only covered about 60% of it and you generally want the roast covered as much as possible so it doesn't dry out. So being the calm, levelheaded person I am, I promptly panicked and added much more water than the recipe called for. When the roast still wasn't covered enough, I ran out and bought some more ingredients and made some more marinade. Finally, adding that to the pot, the roast was 85% covered.

I then discovered that if you add enough marinade, the roast floats. Isn�t that special?

I slow cooked it for about 7 hours, and when it was done, the meat was so tender you could pull it apart with a fork.

My only criticism is that I think Lily's roasts have been a tad more flavorful since she didn't add as much water as I did. However, I am very pleased with the results.

However, I shouldn't break my arm trying to pat myself on the back - pot roast is about the easiest thing to cook there is. Baby steps, baby steps.

I also bought some of the vitamins recommended by Protein Power today, that are supposed to improve that balance of fats and cholesterol in your body, and hopefully reduce the amount of insulin I need. However five small bottles of various vitamins cost more than seventy dollars. Holy cow! Good health does not come cheap!