I am Famous

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-01-30-collegians-debt_x.htm

"The loans I received were private loans with outrageous interest rates. I would have applied to different loan companies rather than just take the first loan offered to me," says Timothy Brown, 26, a highway engineer in Greenback, Tenn., whose loan debt exceeds $100,000 in student loans.

Glad I could be of assistance to those future college students!

Wisdom Teeth "Part Doe"

Well the surgery was a success; I am now wisdomless. I was very nervous before the procedure, but my escort was with me, so she made it better. I remember talking to the dentist about building tunnels and bridges, and then I was OUT. I woke up a few times during the yanking of the teeth, and was thinking, man, I hope he doesnt pull out all of my teeth. I distinctly remember hearing one tooth break, and my head going back and forth as the Dr was ripping one of my teeth out. I am also an abnormality, because I had 5 wisdom teeth, or just smarter than the average Joe? Of course, they pulled the 5th one too, and conveniently charged me as much as possible for removing this baby sized tooth. I did get to keep 2 of my 5 wisdom teeth, however; I believe they are still in Z's purse so I cant give additional details.

The worst part of the whole ordeal was when I came off of the numbing feeling and out of my disorientation. Thats when the pain hit me. Note: Do not take an additional vicodin pill 30 mins after taking one, no matter what the pain. I stumbled from the kitchen to the couch and damn near took out a few lamps and glassware. Z began shoveling more yogurt down my throat and cursing me for being an idiot and then hid the pills from me.

Well it is day 4 and I am just now beginning to notice the swelling going down in my cheeks. I still can not talk very well, and I continue taking the vicodin pills to reduce the pain. I am craving any kind of meat, but still can not chew, so it is more applesauce, jello, pudding, and oatmeal for me!

Cost of procedure: $2100. My part: $770. $16.99 a month for additional federaldental insurance is a helluva deal.

Go Bears!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Bears are going to run the ball down the Colts' throat on Superbowl Sunday. This is the first Superbowl in recent memory that I truly care about the outcome of the game, and am not just rooting for one team because one of the players played at Purdue or has a great cinderella story behind him.

Live Entertainment

This happened right before New Years, and forgot to blog about it.

So I am staying at a hole in the wall town called Mars Hill NC between Christmas and New Years because my normal hotel was closed. (The owners went to Florida on Vacation) Anyway, I was trying out all the local places for supper each evening. Wednesday Night was pizza night and boy was it a good one.

I went to Pizza Roma and saw the sign out front stating "Now featuring Live Entertainment." I was thinking cool, maybe they have a local band just getting started or something and it would be pretty good. Well the empyt parking lot shoulda been a clue, but it was before the rush of 6:00. So I go in anyways.

Well no more than I turn the corner as the only waitress/hostess is seating me, and I see the "live" entertainment. An Elvis impersonator. Great. And no, he was not great by any means. His catch was singing a horrible impersonation of Elvis' "Falling in Love with You" and giving out roses to each and every woman in the restaurant. When I was the remaining person left in the place, he asked if I had any requests, and I said, anything but your Elvis Impersonation, and got up and left promptly.

Scaling (and not a mountain)

So I had a "scaling" procedure done this morning. They call it a deep clean at the dentist's office. A couple of interesting comments I would like to make.

When the dentist hits the nerve in your gums when giving you the shots to numb the area, it really hurts.

Nitrous Oxide is awesome!! I need to get a tank of that installed at my house for recreational use. The dental hygeniest was really nice and kept asking me if I felt anything, I said no, and she continued to crank the juice. Finally I felt like I had just drank an entire bottle of wine, and she said you are the first person to take that much N2O (not sure about this chemistry abbreviation, Z can correct later.) This laugh gas makes you not care about keeping your mouth open for 2.5 hours and frees up the jaw muscles to make them relax easier.

However, I dont think it matters on how much N2O and shots in the mouth they give you, it still hurts like hell. Think of when the Dentist uses the sharp thingy to scrape between your teeth, but only for 1.5 hours. Seriously, she had 6 different scrapers that she used, and all I could think about was, "Has she got that popcorn piece yet?"

Then they sandblast your teeth. A very high pitched pressure washer sends water at a high speed against your teeth. Then its more scraping and digging into the gums. Fun.

Following the sandblaster procedure, next they brush your teeth like they normally do, and you get excited because the excruciating pain is almost over with. But thats just what they want you to think. There is still more scraping to do!! After a new round of scraping, a different form of sandblasting occurs, but this time with baking soda. Naxt taste in da mouf. This apparently polishes and disinfects.

Another round of scraping, this time I can taste the blood flowing profusely from my gums. More N2O please!! Except we are now on the "homestretch" and the N2O is getting cut off.

The homestretch includes a deep flossing. And I mean DEEP. Finally a little bit of sandblasting, and some suction and the procedure is complete.

Then comes the speech. Dental Hygentist: You need to floss every day. ME: I dont floss. D.H. Yes you will, otherwise your teeth are going to fall out, and this 2.5 hours was a waste of your time, my time, and your money. Me: Since you put it that way, teach me how to floss. 10 Mins on how to floss correctly. Another 5 mins on a mouth wash I have to use until its gone.

Total cost for procedure: $716.00 - thank goodness for insurance. MY bill = $0.00

Now I am blogging with a swollen mouth watching Sportscenter dreading my wisdom teeth extraction tomory.

Wisdom Teeth

So I was talking to Z about my upcoming oral surgery at the end of the month and I told her that I was very excited. She replied, "Getting your wisdom teeth removed is not fun, or an enjoyable experience." I said that I was going to make some money off of the tooth fairy for my 4 teeth. She informed me that the Doctors keep the teeth because they are a biohazard. How is that possible? They are in my mouth, they belong to me, and they are not causing me any life-threatening problems. My only conclusion is that the Doctors keep the teeth because they have a deal set up with the Tooth Fairy, and hence the reason they are all rich and drive expensive cars.

Happy New Year

So...being a supervisor is way stressful. Today was the first day back at the lab for the year and it was horrible. I had a new employee to work with. She's very nice, thankfully. However, one person will be out sick for the week in halogens (since there are only 3 people over there it is very difficult to lose one). Then, I get a call from the most important person in the wet chemistry department. She's going to be out sick all week with an infection. I hate that these people are sick especially at the begining of the new year but we have tons of projects in house!!! I need 3 of me to do my job! Oh, and by the way, Tim stayed home with the puppies mourning for the ex president. Flipping federal employees...although I do get to reap the great benefits so I can't be too upset. On top of that I got into a heated discussion with the head of the Quality Assurance dept today. Nice guy but I want to strangle him sometimes. To top it all off, another employee in the wet chemistry department tells me that they will be giving me a 2 weeks notice soon. I just lost another employee a couple of weeks before Christmas. I'm not going to have any employees to supervise if this keeps up. Am I that hard to work for???? The End...for now.

OH Christmas Tree!

Ok well it took me 15 mins to load these pics, then I realized that I forgot to rotate the christmas tree. So just rotate your head when you look at it.

Christmas Lights (per request)

Per Melissa's request, here is our Christmas light display. Other pictures did not turn out well. Sorry.

So I have lost another battle

We buy a new car because we had no other choice. (well, I guess Sweet Pea coulda walked to work everyday).

So what do I see in the neighbor's driveway? A brand new (possibly used) HUMMER. What the hell? I cannot top this guy. We buy a new car, he ups me one by buying a Hummer.

On nice sunny days, he parks all of his toys out in their huge driveway in a long line and then proceeds to wash them, and then put them back in his garages and 16x20 shed. These toys include a dune-buggy, a front-end loader, 2 motorcycles with less than 200 miles on them, 3 trucks, a tahoe, a lexus, a nissan suv thingy, 3 different style riding lawn mowers, and I am sure I am forgetting something else.... oh yea a brand new hummer! Daggument.

I am just beginning to rival him in best yard/landscaping in the neighborhood, but he continues to work in it tirelessly every EVERY night when he gets home from work.

However, I did beat him with the Christmas light display this year, but dont worry, I am on the lookout for newer and different ideas to up my display in '07 so I can continue to have this in my win column.