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off topic open thread

David Gets a Root Canal Open Thread

I feel like this cat looks

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday; some dude was doing unspeakable things to one of my teeth, although to be fair the tooth deserved it. The tooth is recovering, as is the rest of me.

But hey we were overdue for another open thread anyway, so here you go.

–DF

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Naglfar
Naglfar
4 years ago

Well, I hope you feel better soon, David.

weirwoodtreehugger: chief manatee

Feel better, David and anyone else who is under the weather.

I’m mostly okay, but my insomnia – which hasn’t been a big issue the past couple of years – has come back. If I don’t either take an ibuprofen PM or drink alcohol at night, I’ll barely sleep.

I feel guilty for feeling stressed because I’ve still got a job and income and am able to work from home, so I’m safe. But this thing is still stressful and I’m finding it hard to work normally, but easing up on productivity isn’t much of a choice because I take inbound calls.

Naglfar
Naglfar
4 years ago

@WWTH

I feel guilty for feeling stressed because I’ve still got a job and income and am able to work from home, so I’m safe. But this thing is still stressful and I’m finding it hard to work normally, but easing up on productivity isn’t much of a choice because I take inbound calls.

It is natural to feel stress. Don’t feel guilty about it, it is not your fault. Take some time to care for yourself; it may sound cliché but it can really help.

Dreamer
Dreamer
4 years ago

Stay well, David! I wanted a vacation but not like this. My last day of work was March 25. The unemployment website and call bank keep crashing. I’m ok. I’m scared for my sister who is a nurse.

Victorious Parasol
Victorious Parasol
4 years ago

@WWTH

Both Mr. Parasol and I are having trouble sleeping, even though we both work from home and have been social distancing for our rare supply runs.

Robert Haynie
Robert Haynie
4 years ago

I find that these days, and I’m sorry for this, I cannot empathize with Mr. Futrelle in regards to his dental travails.

Because I ain’t got no teeth anyhow. Full dentures. In other words, I’m kinda jealous he’s got something to have problems with.

Bleargh.

Alan Robertshaw
Alan Robertshaw
4 years ago

@ David

Ouch! My sympathies.

Having said that, I once had an abscess and until the dental appointment I was actually fantasising about root canal treatment. It was that weird thing that afterwards the absence of pain was so euphoric it was actually worth the pain in the first place, if that makes sense. (Probably not).

Redsilkphoenix: Jetpack Vixen, Intergalactic Meanie
Redsilkphoenix: Jetpack Vixen, Intergalactic Meanie
4 years ago

Dumb question #1: am I the only one around here who thought of this when first hearing about the coronavirus:

comment image

Or prefer the virus to be no more horrible than this:

comment image

(That is an actual thing, btw. $12.95 USD, plus shipping/handling, and it’s yours.)

And dumb unrelated question #2: is there anyone around the Mammoth commenters who still do things like plastic canvas crafts? I’m trying to do a pair of plastic canvas turtle paperweights, and the shell to this thing is baffling me.

I cannot figure out the right way to get the colors where they need to be without ‘shorting’ some part of the design. There seems to be a mismatch between the number of spaces allotted on the pattern and the number of available spaces on the shell itself, if I try and place things by counting.

Or do I see this thing like I would a counter crossstich embroidery piece? That is, start with one section on the bottom, then do the next color around it, then the third color around that, ect.?

My thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this problem.

Naglfar
Naglfar
4 years ago

@Alan Robertshaw

It was that weird thing that afterwards the absence of pain was so euphoric it was actually worth the pain in the first place, if that makes sense.

I can understand that feeling. I’ve been injured before in other ways and when the pain went away I felt much better than I had before the pain. Like when I sprained my ankle a while back.

@Redsilkphoenix

am I the only one around here who thought of this when first hearing about the coronavirus

Nope, that was my first thought as well. In addition, I hear this is quite bad for the Corina beer company because they were already in financial distress before and now this happened and tainted their name. I don’t drink, so I can’t really speak to the quality of their beer.

I don’t know anything about canvas crafts, so I can’t really help you there. Sorry.

Alan Robertshaw
Alan Robertshaw
4 years ago

@ redsilkphoenix

That sounds like that ‘can you colour a map with only four colours?’ thing!

Clever4agirl
Clever4agirl
4 years ago

Feel better! Enjoy kitty time while high on meds 🙂

Still gardening, hit that boring bit where everything is planted and fed and I’m just standing around waiting for something to happen. Might dig up potatoes tomorrow, don’t really need them, but I like the look on MexianHotChocolate’s face when I stick my hand in the ground and pull up potatoes, like it’s magic.

I hope everyone is staying safe, fed, and loved.

Allandrel
Allandrel
4 years ago

Two weeks ago I finally made the full transition from hemodialysis (performed by techs and nurses in a clinic) to peritoneal dialysis (performed by myself at home). Combined with an early work-from-home transition (that my boss pulled strings to get me due to my immunosuppression) and I have barely had to leave the house in that time.

While I’m doing pretty well in my daily routine, and not very worried personally about the pandemic, I have been in a nightmare of anxiety over others. The US is suffering worse than basically any other country, and it is largely due to Trump and his enablers effectively sabotaging every means to fight the pandemic, both before it hit and right to this minute, even as 1000+ people die each day here. This is less a natural disaster than a crime against humanity.

And conservatives have been coming out of the woodwork to say out loud what was always quiet before – that they want me and others like me to die on the grounds that it will help the stock market.

A pandemic should not be political. It should be situation where everybody comes together to help each other. But is it political, because “everybody coming together to help each other” is antithetical to conservatives.

Clever4agirl
Clever4agirl
4 years ago

@Allandrel PD high five! It was an amazing change for mhc!

Dormousing_it
Dormousing_it
4 years ago

@RedSilkPhoenix:

‘Coronavirus’ sounds like a jokey name for a hangover.

@Naglfar:

I’ve never had Corona beer, but I’ve heard it’s not very good. It was trendy awhile back, at least in the US. I think it was the sexually suggestive ads.

@Alan Robertshaw:

When she was a teenager, my sister had an abscessed tooth. Her dentist stuck his pinkie finger in the abscess, and asked, “Does this hurt?”. She was like, “Of course it hurts, you dirtbag!”

Kent Reniche
Kent Reniche
4 years ago

Been there, done that, and got the meds.

Allandrel
Allandrel
4 years ago

@Clever4agirl

PD is SO much better than HD, isn’t it? I’m just tired all the time instead of alternating between “tired” and “completely exhausted.” And all of your blood stays in your body!

Kent Reniche
Kent Reniche
4 years ago

Corona beer is actually not bad for a basic lager. Slice of lime and a sunny beach and it is quite delightful.

Naglfar
Naglfar
4 years ago

@Alan Robertshaw

That sounds like that ‘can you colour a map with only four colours?’ thing!

You can for any map so long as all regions are contiguous (meaning not for certain world maps because some countries like Azerbaijan have exclaves or regions separated by other countries).

@Allandrel

it is largely due to Trump and his enablers effectively sabotaging every means to fight the pandemic, both before it hit and right to this minute, even as 1000+ people die each day here. This is less a natural disaster than a crime against humanity.

And even if we could somehow charge him for crimes against humanity I can guarantee he’d wiggle out of it. He’s currently overdue for a dozen other crimes he should be in prison for.

But is it political, because “everybody coming together to help each other” is antithetical to conservatives.

They’ve also been running their projection at full power, because they accuse the left of trying to politicize and benefit from this. We’re not the ones trying to sacrifice people to the invisible hand.

Clever4agirl
Clever4agirl
4 years ago

@Allandrel I am beyond thrilled for you! It was such a positive change for MHC, but also, are you getting enough meat? Eat more meat!

Hypatia's Daughter
Hypatia's Daughter
4 years ago

Dormousing_it
Sometimes, hurting is important. I once had a bad tooth and – Good News! – it stopped hurting by the time I saw my dentist.
Except, that the reason it didn’t hurt anymore wasn’t because it had healed by itself, but because the nerves in the tooth had died.
Ooops! Root canal time.

numerobis
numerobis
4 years ago

Fear not David, the tooth fairy is being declared an essential service around the world.

Surplus to Requirements, Observer of the Vast Blight-Wing Enstupidation
Surplus to Requirements, Observer of the Vast Blight-Wing Enstupidation
4 years ago

@Alan, Naglfar:

Not on a torus. Then you might need as many as 7 colors.

@various:

Is PD new technology or something? Otherwise why wasn’t everyone already using it instead of HD?

Allandrel
Allandrel
4 years ago

@Clever4agirl

I was on PD originally from 2007-2009, then my cousin donated a kidney,* which lasted until March 2019. I had to go on hemo and stay there for a year because a concurrent GI bleed (9 transfusions!) made them leery of abdominal surgery until they were certain there was not a risk of recurrence.

I’m lucky that, as a very detail-oriented autistic individual, I have no trouble with following procedure correctly. Back before my transplant, I successfully performed PD for 30 months with no infections.

Shifting back to a PD diet has been rough. Fortunately I love meat, so keeping up my protein count shouldn’t be hard. But even with binders, phosphates are more problematic on PD then they were on HD. Having to limit my dairy is very frustrating. I miss ice cream.

*Donating a kidney is supposed to be rougher than receiving one, but six weeks after the procedure, while I was still staying in bed and avoiding moving, she was playing lacrosse. Oh, to be twenty.

Naglfar
Naglfar
4 years ago

@Allandrel

as a very detail-oriented autistic individual,

Ironically, isn’t that one of the things bigots say we can’t do? I’m also very attentive to details, and I’m not sure where the stereotype comes from.

Bananananana dakry: Quarantine-Haired, still Fat, and Deranged
Bananananana dakry: Quarantine-Haired, still Fat, and Deranged
4 years ago

Tooth pain = hurts. Abscess = hurts like whoa. Root canal = lengthy and expensive. Freedom from pain = worth it.

Had two root canals in the past, and this has turned out my basic mental math with both. Hope you feel better, David.

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