Health

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Like father like son: dental edition

Wednesday, October 10th, 2007

Yesterday was another long day at the Vet getting Skype’s tooth socket checked out. The past couple of days the socket has been getting red and swelled and the vet agreed that it was infected. He’s on antibiotics again in the hopes that it will finish healing properly. If the antibiotics don’t help it’s likely there is a tooth fragment or bone spur in there and some surgery will likely be required.

Funny (and sad) that Skype is so much like me in this respect. Our bad teeth will be our undoing someday!

Halo 3 gamer fuel: the definitive review

Friday, September 28th, 2007

Gamer Fuel

In the interest of expanding my life experiences and getting “my game on” I decided to try the much hyped Gamer fuel, Mountain Dew’s new Halo 3 themed “Dew with an invigorating blast of citrus cherry flavor” featuring 170 calories of sugar and 73mg of caffeine.

Initial impressions:
Upon opening the can I was struck by a fizzing fruity bouquet, with hints of pine. The smell reminds me of a mix between kool-aid and pine-sol. I poured a slight bit into a glass to inspect the rich red-orange colors. While in the white cup it looks suspiciously like very thin orange-ish fake blood from a great number of movies I watched as a child.

The first sip:
Pine-sol and kool-aid suspicions confirmed. The flavor is very artificial and tastes just like it smelled: lime and cherry kool-aid packets mixed with a pine-needle whisk. My mouth instantly got dry and gummy – the sheer amount of sugar in a sip is likely more than I usually consume in a day. Never being one to shy away from the challenge I take a big gulp.

The big sip was a mistake – my teeth started hurting, and shortly after swallowing my stomach followed suit. Now 10 minutes and 1/4th of a can later I feel like laying down and taking a nap. My mouth feels and tastes like a gummy bear crawled in, died, and is now decomposing slowly in the back of my throat. What have you done to me Gamer Fuel?

The verdict:
What freakish executive at Pepsi approved this hyper-sweet monstrosity? Why is it selling? Should I buy stock in companies producing medical equipment for diabetics?

Site re-launch: Bulimia Resources

Friday, September 21st, 2007

I’m proud to announce the re-launch of Bulimia Resources, my very own sadistic satire of the wonderful wide world of beauty. It’s likely the most tasteless thing I’ve ever done and boy am I proud.

McHorrible

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

I had a few errands to run on my way home today and I happened to pass by a McDonalds, only to be stricken with a horrible craving for a Big Mac. I semi-reluctantly stopped in for dinner, and I do have to say for the record that my Big Mac Extra Value Meal was salty, fatty, and delicious.

Now three hours later I remember why I haven’t eaten at McDonalds in the last 3 years: I feel like absolute shit. My body is rebelling in the face of a giant lump of fat, salt, carbs, and preservatives is now slowly working its way through my gut, sapping me of every last shred of vibrancy and humanity.

Remember folks: when the craving comes just say no!

The end of an era: my 12 step dental program is complete

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

This morning marked the end of my ongoing dental saga. With the application of two final crowns I have completed my 10 months of an appointment a month to fix all the lingering problems with my teeth. After applying the crown the dentist found one tiny new cavity (and fixed it gratis!) and then applied a fluoride varnish to help seal my teeth and hopefully keep me away aside from the normal annual cleaning.

The fluoride varnish is a weird experience. It has a consistency of tree sap and was painted on with a brush. It makes my mouth feel dirty and like I haven’t brushed in days, but will hopefully let the fluoride soak in and harden up my teeth a bit. Sadly I can’t brush my teeth for 24 hours while it works its magic so I’m stuck with a fuzzy mouth for the day.

Fixing 14 cavities, 7 root canals, 2 extractions, and 4 crowns: ~$15,500
Getting 14 cavities, 7 root canals, 2 extractions, and 4 crowns: 30 hours in the grinding chair
Having a pain-free mouth again: priceless!

Parenting: like father like son

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007

Skype has unfortunately joined his father in the wonderful wide world of adult dental woes. Recently Ken and I were playing with Skype and threw a ball which he lunged to catch – face first into one of my condo’s walls. He hit the wall hard enough with his nose to break the wall, and unfortunately himself as well. One of his tiny front (adult) teeth got knocked loose and it knocked him for a loop for a bit. The next day he seemed fine other than the tooth being a little loose, and today it fell out completely.

Funny timing given that I had a tooth extracted just last month, and two root canals today – it’s almost like a bonding experience. Luckily for Skype he seems pretty much unaware of his plight and is back to his normal self. This has been a particularly emotional parenting moment for me given how many problems I have with my own teeth – something I can really identify with, and love on him for.

Now if I could just condition myself to forget about my own dental problems I would be set. Ignorance is bliss!

13 hours

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007

13 hours is a long time to be at work when you are still getting over being sick. The weekend can’t come fast enough – even if it starts in less than 24 hours. Once my project ships (less than two weeks – knock on wood) I’m taking me a vacation and not moving from my couch for a good 4 days – I need it!

Loving and hating list style

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007

Things I love right now:

Things I’m not so hot on right now:

I can’t wait for another weekend. I need to get healthy again and catch up – my backpack is growing out of control! I’m thinking of doing a The Lord of the Rings marathon on Saturday so I can get rested up, then plan on making Sunday an ultra-productive wonder day!

Radio silence

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

I’ve been silent for the last week, but I have a good excuse dammit! Both my peer and my boss on the PM side of things at work have been out of the office and a few 14 hour days have ensued keeping up with things. Unfortunately not everything went perfectly, but we have mitigation plans and I think everything will work out in the end. The stress kind of got to me by the end of the week but I managed to keep everything going and for the most part keep all the fires under control while helming the ship.

It’s been stressful on me (and Skype) but the weekend is here, and at least my peer is back so I’ve been able to for the most part take things easy this weekend and relax. Sylwia is here helping me clean right now while I’m working on a few projects, and later Ken and Scott are coming by for an evening of excess – just what the doctor ordered.

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