Snaggletooth

I hate the dentist. It is not the actual person that I despise it is the situation. I hate that my mouth is open for what seems like an eternity (although my dentist has a lovely tooth pillow, which props your mouth open). I hate that it dries my lips out. I hate the sound the tools make. I hate the smell of the tools. There is nothing more that I dislike doing. I think if I had to go every 6 months for a cleaning and that is all then I would be fine, but every time I visit the dentist they tell me I need something fixed, replaced or upgraded. When does it end??? I get it I have less than stellar teeth. Always have and always will! It never mattered what I did as a kid I always had cavities, sometimes needing crowns and even root canals. I am sure it drove my mother nuts!



So recently, I decided to get my lower tooth fixed. I was hit in the mouth with a baseball in 1993 and it broke my tooth in half. My childhood dentist, aka "the butcher", fixed me up with a lovely temporary tooth that lasted me until Monday. One would assume that after 15 years the temporary tooth just gave out and needed to be replaced, but No it was my own vanity. Although the tooth looked ok, you could see a green wire in one of the corners. This was not noticeable until brought it to one's attention, but I guess I had enough. So,the plan was to go in on Monday and have my tooth prepped and fitted for a permanent crown, but while my custom tooth was being created in the lab I would be stuck with another temporary tooth for 3 weeks. At the beginning of my appointment I express my reluctantcy, since we were planning on having our engagement photos taken next week. So I make it through 2 and 1/4 hours of my biggest nightmare and what do I end up with? A snaggletooth. There are so many tings wrong with this tooth. It is too wide for my mouth and pushes against my neighboring teeth. It is too fat and rubs against the inside of my lip. Worst of all, the tooth overlaps my gums! This looks HIDEOUS! So needless to say I postponed the engagement photos until I have my new tooth not a snaggletooth!

Taxation Without Representation

So the other day I decide to write a letter to my congressman. Oh yeah, didn’t I tell you? I write my congressman all the time. His name is Gordon H. Smith and his stamped signature looks really authentic. Anyway, I wrote this particular letter in regards to the state of health care in this once proud nation, and how the community would be better served as a whole by providing some sort of national health care program. Now I didn’t go into specifics of how I would bring about this plan, but something needs to be done and someone smarter than me or George W needs to figure something out quick. The kind and generous senator then took the time out of his busy schedule to ask his secretary, who asked her assistant, who farmed some work to a letter writing sweat shop in Taiwan, and had a nice form letter, complete with a blue stamped signature sent to my house. (By the way the blue ink didn’t trick me Gordo! I know it was supposed to look like you signed the letter with a blue pen in a different font, but I know it is just color ink from a printer. Good try there pal.) How nice of him. And to think that it only took him 4 months to get this whole process done. This is government efficiency at its best.


The senator opens his letter thanking me for taking the time to write him. Whatever. Just like this is your real signature? Liar. He then restates my question giving me statistics that back up my claim that America needs some sort of health care reform. Thanks a lot. I know what I wrote to you. You don’t have to repeat what I just said. This is like all reality tv. When they go to commercial the next 2 minutes after commercial are the same two minutes you just watched. Why do they do this? Are there that many people going to the bathroom that need to be caught up? Just keep the show rolling. I can follow the storyline. The next two paragraphs of the letter inform me of all the great things that he [Mr. Smith] has been a part of in ‘fixing’ the health care problem. That’s who to blame for all this crap. Gordon Smith. He gives me the dates of acts and legislation that he has drafted and even more elaborate schemes that he is in the process of drafting. I am then assured that health care is a huge concern for him and he is on it. The kind senator ends by wishing me “warm regards” and uses a blue ink to forge his own signature.

I can’t believe that this is how informal our government is. I know that Mr. Smith is probably a really busy man and does not have time to answer all the letters he gets; but come on. At least try a little. Maybe? I think if I had wrapped my letter in a check for $100,000 he would have sent me a personally signed letter. Perhaps if an upscale call girl delivered my note he would have paid it more attention. But alas, I am but a commoner with no representation in this so called democracy. For the third time in twelve years I will vote for Ralph Nader in November in hopes that one day a third party will be allowed to participate in the election process. There are more than two views in this country, why are there only two choices in political policy? Maybe I should write a letter to my congressman about this.

What a Difference a Week Makes

So last week I was preparing to spend the summer alone. Rusty was preparing to accept a job in Alaska this summer for 14 weeks. He completed a wilderness first aid course and gun safety. Although it was the best move for our future, I was totally bumming about spending the summer alone! The summer in Portland is the best part of living here. So he decides to talk to his employers this week and let them know he intends to leave mid-June. To our surprise they decide to promote him from GIS Specialist 1 to a GIS Specialist 5! So no more Alaska (whew what a relief). Later that day, Rusty was elected as one of two coordinators to the Geology Club at PSU. It is even a paid position. So now he has to plan some fun geological activities for the club.


Rusty left this morning for a class field trip and this is what he looked like. If this is not Rusty in his prime I do not know what is!