A busy, airy day

It rained today. That’s only news because it’s been so long since we’ve had a rainy day that, despite the inconvenience of it all, it was very welcome. I had several errands to run today, dealing with smiling, drilling, and a stream of air. And while those all might apply to the dentist, my first stop, in fact, none of them really did.

This morning I had a consultation with my dentist about what to do to tidy up my front teeth. Specifically, he’s going to even out their biting edges, both the tooth that was chipped from colliding with a lower front tooth (a problem the dentist fixed with a little grinding, though the chip remained), and also the other front tooth, which has worn a bit, and is also shorter than the chipped tooth. My goal is to make my smile a little nicer (from my perspective), though I’m extremely realistic about what the results will be.

This is a major change from where my dental journey began. The whole “Tooth Tales” series of posts began as a journey to get a prettier smile, and that was nearly eight years ago. When that quest began, I wanted to close the gap in my front teeth, but periodontal disease and other problems first delayed, and then ultimately ended that quest. I readjusted my goal, particularly after Nigel died, from getting a prettier smile to just getting a nicer one—and I was very relaxed about how much nicer it might actually be.

And so, a week from Thursday I go back to the dentist to have the repairs and touch-ups done, which, not doubt, I’ll talk about at the time—and no doubt with before and after photos. The dentist said in passing a couple times that the gap I originally wanted gone is a part of me, and he’s right: I’ve lived with it as long as I’ve lived with teeth. But, of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t be nicer.

It was difficult getting there on time today: I had to park way down the road because their carpark was full of cars of people getting their booster shots at the medical clinic next door. And, it was raining, and I needed to find an umbrella I knew must be in the boot of my car. I found a different one. Still, it was a good consultation, and he told me that my use of those damn little brushes is definitely working because my mouth is much healthier. Yay.

My next stop was to a home centre so I could pick up some masonry drill bits (to hang some things on the outside of the house; yet more new projects!), and one other thing I wanted that they didn't have in stock. So, I had to go to another store, the computer and tech store I often get stuff from. I said when I posted the photo up to to my Instagram:

All the tech stuff Nigel left me, including multiple cans of silicone spray, but not a single can of compressed air! So, I bought one today (for the first time ever). It’s for a super-secret project that soon won’t be secret, but dunno whether it’ll turn out super or not (I’m optimistic, though). The demented look on my face must be because I don’t like going to the shop I bought it at, and that was my third stop today under the first day of our somewhat tighter Covid restrictions. Skipped the supermarket, though—carpark was too full (and I was only stopping for something I wanted, not anything I needed). Onward!

Traffic in that area being what it is, I had to go past the shop and double back, and considering how much I dislike going to that shop, it’s a measure of how determined I was. That super-secret project will absolutely be documented here (add it to the growing list…).

After I didn’t stop at the supermarket, it was back home and, it turned out, to a bit of a nap with Leo. I’ve been out every single day for the past four days, including two nights in a row socialising with family (plus my birthday night at my house on Friday). The weekend was even bookended by medical appointments.

I have other projects on the go, too—of course!—and one of them is stalled. But, at least that one’s being held up by delayed delivery, not me having to go anywhere. I guess that’s one good thing about it. That, too, is something I’ll talk about more when something actually happens.

Still, I at least finally have my can of air. Now I just need to bring some of those projects out of the air and into reality. Doing that will also help keep me away from Omicron; that, too, is in the air.