azurelunatic

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The implant is titanium, so I still get to have MRIs because it's non-ferrous. (Which word the dental assistant didn't use even when I used it first.)

Belovedest drove me, and did some Work From Car while I was in there. The thing took less long than I expected.

The chair was tilted to the right again, so the oral surgeon had a better angle. I felt less insecure about that (slip & slither -wise) than last time, since I didn't fall out last time.

I didn't have the oxygen or the heart monitor this time. Which I preferred, because the oxygen nosepiece brings me the mild but distinct smell of amoxicillin (unsure if a function of the equipment, or a function of me having taken the stuff beforehand) but either way I have childhood trauma where my reaction is NOPE. (I still accept it because it's not so extremely strong that I can't put up with it for a course, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, and in fact it went on my teenage Sensory Nope/Yup document that I made before teenage Sensory Nope/Yup documents were a big thing.) (The childhood trauma is essentially ( sensory nope with bonus threat of physical abuse )
)

The worst part of the procedure, hands down, was getting the injections for the roof of the mouth numbing without any topical anesthetic. Cannot recommend. I was clenching fists firmly and struggling to stay still, which is at least double my usual reaction to mouth injections with proper pre-care.

There was a bit of a plumbing problem at first, where the drill wasn't getting the water it needed. Everything halted while they tried to get that flowing. Turning it on and off again was part of it.

I didn't get to get a picture of the hardware or the uncovered state in my mouth. Alas.

I got sent home with a lovely little care package including a brand-new branded swag handleless travel mug that takes about 28oz water (black), a frozen and wrapped cold pack, a spinning three/six hour acetaminophen/ibuprofen hopscotch indicator on a 12 hour dial with a place on the back to indicate dose (from www.comfortcontrolclock.com, branded to that office), a care sheet, a medication log for 6 days and covering up to 4 doses of ibuprofen, Tylenol, medicated mouthwash, narcotic pain med, antibiotic 1, antibiotic 2. Also a general instructions sheet and two bags of black tea -- either for when I'm supposed to switch from cold to hot, which is a really sweet touch, or practicality because black tea is an astringent which is good for unwanted bleeding (along with pressure). (I'm just on the one antibiotic right now, plus whatever they shoved through my IV while I was in there, but I actually really do need to get in touch with my GP because I also discovered a nasty boil in my buttular region, and while it does seem to be responding to a mixture of the antibiotics and heat, I should talk to my GP in case it stops and also to keep an eye on in case it becomes a habit ... Again.)

I have been nerd-sniped by an Incorrect map fact, requiring no fewer than two edits and perhaps more to rectify. It's going to have to start with photos of the shopping center index signs, and that's not a today project. Then the unlisted building within it has not one but two ground floors, depending on which side of the building you're on. Only then will I be able to rectify the actual business's map information. BIG SIGH. Did I mention that the shopping center website seems missing entirely?

I immediately violated the letter of the NO SUCKING interdiction, if not the spirit. I immediately demanded frozen soda, and frozen soda was procured. Unfortunately without the scoopy spoon. I consumed it. I later managed to jab myself in the soft palate with my tongue, which immediately hit the OH FUCK NO button.

I have an appointment in three weeks to get the insoluble stitches removed. I had A Time getting this on my calendar, so it's good that I requested the appointment card this time. I entered it on my phone, but got interrupted, so when I looked it up on the desktop machine it wasn't there, but when I looked back at my phone it looked like it was there, so I refreshed and swore, but it turns out I never actually saved it and I was looking at today on the phone. I took all my meds before going this morning except the ADHD med so I'd have a nice calm heart rate for my appointment. Then I was too busy sulking and got nerd-swiped and interrupted and anyway I was trying to make my Fitbit steps and also go over some options for Alex's curtains (which we have been trying to order for MONTHS now but everybody has ADHD and I'm the only medicated one and that's spotty) but then Belovedest had a splinter in their paw and I had to go poke that and since I found one potential spot of splinter but their feet were hurting more in random but specific places I suggested they have a conversation with their doctor about the thing they're more genetically predisposed to (I am aware of the MODERN standard of care on that, and there are providers in our state), since they'd had that earlier in the past few weeks and I utterly couldn't find the actual splinter even though I used a lancet as a much more clean needle to try and dig it out. (Like Dr. Zuckerman and his splinter drill. Don't Touch It! Don't Look At It!)

Yellface tried to pee on a plastic bag last night, and partially succeeded, so she got a vet appointment today, and an antibiotic for the presumed UTI. She wasn't being protective of her flanks, so it probably wasn't a kidney woe.

* An alarm went off in the fire house, but as this was the 60s or 70s and he was a known good fella, no consequences other than an emphatic scolding arrived, with the understanding that he would not repeat this.

I guess this means I don't get to have MRIs anymore (not that I had any to start with; I was able to keep my watch on while they imaged the place that used to hold my uterus) now that the screw socket goes in my face tomorrow.

I'm pretty calm about it, considering. I have 32-48 hours of effective pain meds (better than last time) and I have expressed some Feelings about this to my therapist. (I am pretty sure that if I call in and say MOTHERFUCKING OW to the surgeon, I would probably get another day or so.) I have a hopscotch schedule set up for the ibuprofen. I have the antibiotics in my pill case, but based on the way it looks on the paper schedule I should move those. I have ice cream, potato soup, and yogurt ready, with jello on deck.

I just have to set my alarm for the morning now.

Important surgery recovery milestone: STRAWS. I can use them again! This is delightful and I am very pleased. Last night I tracked down the compatible straw top for my current waterbottle, washed it, and replaced the chute top I'd been using. I hope this will mean better hydration. My current meds setup can result in glue-mouth if I don't drink every time I notice my mouth is slightly dry, and glue mouth sucks.

Unlike Seattle proper, around here we have perhaps fewer hills. One of the exits from our neighborhood is Too Steep, and has been blocked off until the roads are un-iced.

Thursday night gave me a notification about my car's battery level, so Friday we needed to drive and charge it. Belovedest dropped me off at the dentist and drove circles while they cleaned off my popped crown and cemented it back down.

After that was done, they picked me up and we went off to Ev's place to drop off some things and pick up some others, in case the weather was too nasty for her to return on Sunday as planned.

(There was a brief IKEA detour, which annoyed my knees but not my lungs. Progress on the breathing front!)

We watched the CBC countdown ("Is that country?" "It's Canadian country." "Oh."), the Shit Fireplace 2021 with miscellaneous objects set on fire inside a toilet bowl, and the Seattle countdown with the only vaguely explicable Augmented Reality show that the announcers breathlessly informed us would be done Actually Live!!!! rather than fully pre-recorded. Which according to them was some sort of first. The featured performer was Sir Mix-a-Lot.

The bubbly was rather dry, which is not the way I like it, but I'm sure we will figure out things to do with it.

Today we have been inside. The LED strip over the fireplace turned blue midway through the afternoon, which means that it dropped below freezing acccording to IFTTT. I'm not sure where I left my slippers.

On Monday, the mini-split head above my desk stopped blowing air, closed the vent, and started flashing its power light. I went to the manual. ( Read more... )

The upshot: the tech will present his findings to the company, it's within warranty, and someone should give Belovedest a call so a daylight expedition to inspect all sixteen flares between the heads (four per head) can be mounted.

And then teeth.

Part 1:
( kab this is very specifically Not For You; dental body horror )

That part is now healing up fine.

Part 2:
Impending Surgery

So earlier this year I had a cleaning on my upper left quadrant. That got close to a crown in my upper right quadrant. ( More horror. )

So. Argh.

This portion of the program is going to cost upwards of $1500 after counting in the retainer-thing. So it is crowdfunding time. (This is with two forms of insurance, but replacing a front upper tooth is apparently a luxury item in this fucking country.)

We are still somewhat financially overextended from October's portion of this nonsense, which hit the FSA and a card that's still getting paid down. We're fed and housed and such, and Mama is helping, but if anyone happens to have some spare change kicking around that is not for food and housing and medical, I would appreciate some help. My PayPal is azurelunatic at gmail. (I also have a venmo linked to a private address.)

Current Mood: cranky

I did a thread liveblogging my readthrough of Devil's Cub. It starts here: https://twitter.com/azurelunatic/status/1436534251516686336 and I may well export it as a separate blog post. I took two evenings to get through it, since I wasn't doing it on squeemachine for whatever reason, and a lot of my romancelandia folks are UK and/or up at that hour.

The 11th is LF's birthday, first and always. I wished him a happy birthday on the hellsite, now that I've reactivated myself for a while. I texted Darkside a couple cats and mentioned the LF's 5th birthday very briefly before a shiny subject change.

In hobbies, I have reached a year studying French with la chouette verte, using only a few freezes. I've kept my current pair of freezes for a while, and I'm glad they seem to have done with selling "weekend amulets". I took Isa's advice about how to get yourself out of the diamond rat race a while ago, so I'm on private until I feel like trying to make a play for first in my league (it may be a while).

I have also started watching The Lockpicking Lawyer on YouTube, as those videos are about as wholesome as you can get without being literally the GBBO. He has a soothing voice and delivery! He has strong opinions about locks! He sells some tools! He sometimes works with an entity named BosnianBill to make tools! Even if you're not hardcore into locksport, the videos are accessible. Mrs. Lockpicking Lawyer's opinions occasionally get aired. The comments are mostly not a cesspit, and often exaggerate the likelihood of LL getting into an extremely securely locked thing for comedic effect.

There is exactly one (1) fic featuring him on AO3, this chapter of a fandom where I Don't Go (general ignorance of it; no idea if I'd like it or not and there are so many things I haven't read yet) but it is approximately his exact reputation and very short: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125864/chapters/66241171

He'd make an excellent crossover fandom for like Yuletide or something, either him dealing with a that-fandom famous lock, or characters from that-fandom reacting appropriately when he appears vs. one of their locks. https://twitter.com/kcollasarundell/status/1437936189093281793/photo/1

We got a promising-looking LED-based "neon" rope light, and finally got it hung on the 13th. It does many different color combinations but my favorite is the scrolling rainbow. Unfortunately I think we missed the window for getting a second one at Costco. Eventually it'll be added to the Home Assistant's list of competence, but right now it's only in Broadlink and on the physical remote. Sadly the Sengled lights do not expose their "color cycle" (rainbow) mode that anyone is aware of, PLUS they don't expose it for scenes, so if I want all the flexible colored lights in the living room to turn rainbow I have to turn them on separately.

Lil Nas X wonz a priez! I am happy for him! He also dropped an album, which I need to listen to.

( Dental )

My current dental coverage doesn't cover fucking around with crowns, so until we get some new/supplemental coverage for me we are paying out of pocket. This is obnoxious and I am cranky about it.

The Refrigerator Situation Continues. The freezer side is vacillating between like -2 and ... refrigerator temperatures. We occasionally get a gush of water when we go to dispense ice. The ice cache in the ice bucket is dwindling. I baked the last of the chicken in there, then used the bones to make soup base, made bean soup last night. Tonight is pizza with pepperoni ("freezer"), bacon bits (downstairs fridge), kielbasa ("freezer").

It is Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers. We got treats for the smols who are going to come visit. I'm planning on sorting them into Fruit, Chocolate, Chocolate With Peanuts, and For Discerning Palates (dark chocolate and salted caramel, for grown-up companions).

I should get some keyboard dots and put one on the F5, because I use it a lot and yet don't have the location memorized on this keyboard. Since it's one of the split keyboard ones, the halves can migrate a little, and hand orientation to body as well as hand orientation to keyboard matters. I'm not always looking at the keyboard, in part because eye contact with the screen, but partly because the cat-guard shelf over the keyboard sometimes collects Quest Items (it's not clutter, I'm using them).

Tuesday was all the errands. ( Read more... )

Car went into the shop on Wednesday and the driver's door was finished on Thursday. They're waiting on parts, but it's driveable again so we brought it home. I'm feeling less trapped now, but also money :\
They'll get the parts in next week sometime; they said "midweek" so I have that in the calendar so we don't schedule over it.

Also Wednesday was another dental deep-clean. After my yelp of pain while maneuvering the anaesthetic, they may have given me an excess of it, because my face was still numb in that place after about six hours. I demanded pity pho.

Today was the yearly furnace maintenance visit. ( Read more... )

I am using an extraordinary number of qtips to deal with my nose situation, so the time to get more is when I open the last known box and put it on the specific bathroom shelf. On the last formal shopping trip, Costco was out of them. (Even though both Belovedest and I had a vague memory of having gotten some recently, but they weren't where I expected to find them, sooo...) So I snagged some on the Tuesday trip.

I decided that Wednesday should include some Dealing With That Stuff At The End Of The Bedroom Hall. We did not follow through. But today... So I was leaning over to see what exactly was in the other side of the cupboard and let out the sort of angry-surprised yelp that had Alex come running to see whether I needed assistance. There, on the lower middle shelf, just out of sight, was the damn new pack of qtips.

We were correct to get toilet paper when we did. We need sneezecloths. The wet wipes are stacked neatly. AND WE HAVE TROP DE QTIPS.

Well, beaucoup de qtips. We'll use them eventually-soon.

Refrigerator: It's about a week and a half until the refrigerator service window. We are still going through the stuff that's still good. I am moderately cranky about this but no longer in a state of extended screaming unless I think about it for too long. It is making food a little harder to deal with because we do not always want to have a thing that is visible, and we also do not want to create leftovers that will then need to be stored.

The lawn:
Belovedest has selected a vendor to address Lake Redacted on the lawn. It's the same vendor that did the basement moat. Today they came out to mark the intended dig line. They'll do the work while belovedest is off at a work thing.

The history as I understand it:
* There was once a line to direct the roof runoff to the street gutter, involving 3" perforated pipe to partly diffuse it into the lawn
* The original sump pump installation was ... flawed
* Belovedest and Evil Ex bought the house
* In getting the sump pump up to code, the work crew hooked it into the roof runoff line
* Evil Ex kicked to the curb
* Moat installed in basement
* More water going through line
* Line clogged
* Water comes out of perforated pipe to form Lake Redacted
* Everyone is peeved

Dentist again today for the crown. Yay. ( Read more... )

Next visit will be some work on the lower right.

Between the annoyed teeth and the cold or flu that belovedest brought home from work, it's been a miserable week. I picked up a box of instant breakfast powder packets on last week's shopping trip, and they have kept me fed when everything else sounded like it would hurt or be too much for my apathetic and wheezing self.

The cats still hate each other. (This, at least, is expected.)

It's become customary for me to have dinner with Purple on a random weeknight, just the two of us. I'd looked at my schedule for the week: Monday, work call. Tuesday, evening before the Day of Two Dentists. Wednesday, the Day of Two Dentists. Thursday, nothing planned. Friday, dinner. So it was Tuesday or Thursday, since dinner after TDO2D sounded ... unwise. And Purple has a standing social engagement Thursdays which he tries to go to unless he's working late or too tired, so Tuesday it was. Even though we were both very tired. We had sandwiches, companionably, and talked about an astonishing range of topics. He was sorry to drag me all the way down there for so short a dinner, but -- well, I was just glad to see him, you know?

So Wednesday was the Day of Two Dentists. (No dental horror is contained in this narrative, unless you count bureaucracy and passing references to high-pitched noises.)

( Read more... )

Tomorrow is Friday. Hooray Friday. I need to call Crystal back, to get that list of dentists, and reassure her that I am not quite literally dead in a ditch.

Current Music: Tuesday, Wednesday, stay in bed

Been rather draggy all weekend, as I do not like it when my mouth starts hurting and hurting and hurting. Went to the dentist today, but evidently all seems to be well in general. I got my antibiotics extended, I should call him if I start to run out of pain meds when I still have pain, the ibuprofen is a good move because painkilling + anti-inflammatory = ftw, and sometimes bones just gotta ache if they have a great gaping hole in them.

Bleh.

But at least I know it's normal and it's not like it's not healing; he says that it looks just great back there!

He hadn't had the Two Teeth With Scary Doom Between on his little list of things to get fixed in my mouth; they're the thing that's next on it for me. Because. Scary. Doom. Pain. These things do not like me.

Current Mood: sore

Finished most of my paperwork in a screaming hurry before 4pm. Have 2 more spreadsheets to update but those are small. Went to dentist. Dentist took shorter than I might have thought to pry teeth out of my head. But hearing that sort of noise from one's dentist is not always a good thing.

I had two more wisdom teeth (I only got three; the fourth one is still lurking in my jaw and doesn't want to break through the gum, and I'm not about to ask someone to go in there digging) to be removed. The first one was rotated 180° from what it should have been. Then the crown broke off, so he had to get creative. (It was not quite as gnarly as the one above it had been, but it was getting close. Just hadn't started disintegrating yet.) The second one was two fun things at once: one or more of its roots was into my sinus cavity! Woo! And it also had three roots! That one involved some more digging than the first one. The dentist was making commentary on this, then he realized that he was babbling. "I talk too much," he said, and shut up. I would have pouted had my mouth been available to do so; I like hearing the technical details of something that's going on with my body.

I got out of there, to the pharmacy, to home, and walked back to the pharmacy before the injections started wearing off. Thankfully, I'd had some foresight, and started in on the prescription from last time before walking to the pharmacy to pick up this prescription.

Some general silliness followed, with me being stoned on pain meds in IRC, and also being stoned on pain meds in

suggestions. Fortunately, me being stoned on pain meds in

suggestions is far less overt than me being stoned on pain meds in channel.

The evening is now coming to an agreeable close what with the chaos and confusion incurred when someone forgets who the maintainer is before flaming away in a community.

Tomorrow, I shall have my Trainee do the paperwork, and I shall observe. This might just slightly coincide with the fact that tomorrow I will still be in need of serious prescription painkillers. I haven't got the sides of my face all swollen up, though. I feel rather better than I otherwise might. I'm so walking to work. Not going to be driving. I probably *could* drive; I probably *shouldn't*.

Current Mood: stoned
Current Music: but legally!

BPAL: London: Smells like slightly dusty roses in the bottle. On drydown, there's some weird lemon action coming out, but it's still nice-smelling. Not going to replace Rose Red, though. (I still have plenty of Rose Red.)

Sunday afternoon is evidently the time to get comments on

suggestions posts. I'm helping maintain over there. My role is helping tag the posts, helping track the discussion and chill out any flamewars. (Though things have been relatively chill ever since that one post trying to duplicate the role of the Abuse team, except with Let's Play Nice And Polite -- Three Strikes and You're Out. I do actually feel sorry for the person who suggested that, because they really are going to have a difficult time living on the internet if they're not prepared to enforce their own standards of politeness in their own space. Especially if that's how they react to people disagreeing with them.) There are some really good ones this round; I especially like the LJ bookmark suggestion; I think I've got a good basis there for the devs to think in a direction that would be do-able. Even the ability to mark the last entry you were looking at in any given filter with a nice big sticker so you can see it when you reload and scroll down would be absolutely wicked. Come to think of it, someone could probably Greasemonkey one up.

Called Darkside. We talked yesterday for a while (I was in the pool, yay). When I tried in the morning-ish, he was playing chess with his mom. I called this evening and we chatted. I've been able to give him more little updates on life in general. I mentioned getting lost in Mesa trying to get to Chandler, and if we'd been going anywhere else, I'd have given him a call and seen if he'd wanted to come along, but we were going to RHPS, and I knew that he wouldn't want to go to that, so I didn't bother him. He appreciated both courtesies, I think. He avoids RHPS like the plague, and I'm not about to argue with his decision on that front.

I did laundry. This was especially fun as I'm not sure where my laundry bag is: I cleaned in between then and now, see, and then I don't know where I put it. The window screen in the laundry room was falling down. I chatted with Downstairs on my way back up. We didn't disturb her this week (good!) though she did notice a little bit of stampeding-elephant action (my phrasing) this morning about 4:30 when she was getting up. That would have been JD packing. She's the one with the cat named Leia. She didn't name that cat. She's a sucker for cats. She's got an old cat of hers back, about fourth-hand. That cat's name is Susan. She didn't name that cat either. She quit smoking a while ago! I'm so proud of her! She refers to her "partner", and said partner is referred to as female. Yay for assortedly queer neighbors!

I've been in a giggly, tuneful mood all day. # = that filtered post & friends, feel free to slap me at any time if I get too obnoxious. (Trust me. I probably will. Y'all know who you are.)

Tomorrow: dentist! I get to lose the last of my wisdom teeth, except for the one that did not come in! Also, I get to make sure to fill out the Morningstar Reports at work before I leave, which should be brilliantly fun.

Current Mood: giddy
Current Music: David Bowie, "Let's Dance" (yay 80s music Friday)

Dentist report for today: well, now I have a plan of action and a schedule!

( Details. )

Current Mood: happy
Current Location: home

Quiet day. Off the radar. I dressed up, went to the work party, came home. No trick-or-treaters. Read Callahan's Con, which I was thinking was more likely to be about a convention than a confidence game. (That's the old term for "social engineering", folks.)

Darth Vader is sexier than I am. On a good day, I collect a handful of honks, whistles, and assorted hails all day. Darth Vader -- I stopped counting the honks in the first four minutes of my twenty minute walking commute. At the party, someone's kid wanted to have their picture taken with Darth Vader. The kid is evidently an immense Vader fanboy. I think I made his holiday. On my walk home, some anonymous wit shouted, "Daddy! You're home!" at me. (I was reminded of

iharthdarth.)

nanowrimo has commenced. I have a keyboard shortcut for the word count in WordPerfect, now.

I am also feeling very uneasy about the state of my dental health. I am not in pain (yet), but there are certain warning signs that tell me that some more fixing-up of my mouth is overdue. I had been getting my mouth overhauled as of a few years ago, but I discontinued the project abruptly based on a Very Bad Dentist Day where I almost left the office with un-filled holes drilled in. I was hoping that I'd make staff and get dental benefits (not to mention other health insurance) but that doesn't seem likely in the near future. It is unsettling to be without health insurance of any kind.