Rootkit for Canals

[robotech_master]

You know, I just had a short vacation, Roy
Spent it getting a root canal
"Oh, how'd you like it?"
Well, it ain't that pretty at all

—Warren Zevon, "Ain't That Pretty At All"

You know, there are some words you just don't want to hear when the dentist is up to his elbows in your mouth. Words like "difficult" or "hardest root canal I've ever done," or (my favorite) "entire back of the tooth is missing." It also gives one pause when the temporary filling keeps falling out, or when you have to consciously suppress your gag reflex when the hand-held X-ray camera is poked back into the back of your mouth. The tooth was my top right back molar, all the way at the back of my mouth; any farther back and it would have been in my stomach.

But when all was said and done, the dentist and his assistant actually did a bang-up job getting the tooth all drilled out and patched up. When it was all over, I think we all deserved a beer—them for doing it, and me for sitting through it. I also got a prescription for some Vicodin, though I'm not sure whether I'll need it—but if nothing else, at least I can reenact scenes from Max Payne.

After that, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up the prescription, and rewarded myself by picking up a couple of movies I'd never seen but expected I would enjoy enough to want to keep them: Hellboy (director's cut) for $9, and Stand By Me for $5. Then I came on home, stopped by the bank to pull some cash out of my Health Savings Account to pay for the portion of the dental costs that the insurance wouldn't cover, and had myself a cup of "pineapple whip" (pineapple-flavored soft-serve) on the way home. Yummy.

I think tonight will be an early night.