Strawberry flavored gauze pads

Somebody, somewhere, needs to invent some flavored gauze pads. I mean, sure maybe they'd change their composition drenched in blood, but at least the first few minutes would be somewhat blissful.

Anyway, work up nice and early this morning so the parents, Maria and I could make the drive to Philly. I took them on the slightly scenic way, taking the Kelly Drive exit. Appointment at 9 a.m., but you sure can't leave Lancaster at 7:30 and expect to be there on time. Since we got there about an hour early, we walked through Rittenhouse Square and enjoyed the morning rush. Things were humid, but tolerably slow. Kind of like that really pleasant summer day when you leave your cold-ass office in the evening and think, "Maybe I should take the long way home."

I do not like needles. My brother, who is a doctor, probably loves them. I abhor them. And when you take one of them and start sticking it around my mouth, it's probably the worse thing ever. It's right up there with taking away my warm apple pie with ice cream and then telling me that I have to drive an automatic car for the rest of life.

Admittedly, that was the worst part of it. When I realized that I couldn't feel the lower half of my face, I was greatly amused. Seriously, though. It's funny as hell. You can pinch and pull you lip all you want, and nothing. Want to get into a bar fight? Novcaine yourself up and have at it. I'm sure the cops will be real happy as you drool on your identification during their interrogation.

Apparently the lower wisdom teeth are in the bone and the uppers aren't. So the first lower one was a fun exercise in him drilling and pushing around on my face. Not pleasant. It drowned out the radio quite nicely. I think they should offer you earplugs or something. The top one (that he did second) on my right side fell out rather quickly and I nearly choked on it before they sucked it up.

The other two weren't bad and of course, like a drive down Valley Road and 60, it was over before I knew it. Then it was time to eat some gauze bads. At first they were pretty bloody but now, a few hours afterward, they're fairly tame. I also took a bunch of medicine -- painkiller, antibiotic -- to make the transition back to reality easier.

I'm really glad that I had all four done at once, though. And I'm also glad I decided to go with the local instead of the complete sedation. I feel pretty decent right now, although there is just kind of a dull pain and I'm hungry all the time. The banana milkshakes are nice, though. Not sure what else might be on the menu. Can you put pizza in a blender? Probably not.

It'll be nice to have the next few days off -- I think I should be ok by Monday -- although I'm peeved that we didn't get to go to Akron this weekend to visit my brother.

Wisdom

Maria and I went to Philadelphia yesterday afternoon since I had a consultation with an oral surgeon. Turns out that my wisdom teeth have to come out. I can do the pair that hurt (my right side) or all four. I'm going to elect all four, since I might as well get it over with at once. And by "my wisdom teeth have to come out," I mean like on Thursday. Day after tomorrow. You know, about a fortnight before the trip to Hawaii on June 30th. He said I should be all healed up in a few short days and out of it for not so long. Others who've had this seem to agree.

I'm not sure if you all want to see pictures of me under the knife or whatever they'll use, but we can take them anyway!

And, if you're playing along at home, I've had the car now for two years and two weeks. It's right at 50,000 miles. That means the warranty is over and things that are really expensive (turbo, engine, transmission) will start to break.