Perpetual Ruminations

Monday

Better get this written now, I may not be able to later. It's been one of them kind of days, and it's definitely been a Monday. Not that it's all been bad, in fact, it hasn't been a bad day at all, it's just been a Monday.

I worked today, up at three thirty, to work by five, and was suppose to work until two this afternoon. I had another guard come in for double coverage at eleven, and it would have been a pretty easy day. But, I've been suffering with a tooth ache all weekend, and it was still pretty sore this morning. On top of that, when I got up, I had a throbbing pain in my right side. I thought at first it was cramping, and Rhonda said the muscles felt knotted up. But, it just did not go away, like a cramp would, and when Rhonda tried to message the knotted muscle, it didn't do any good.

So, I went to work with my tooth aching and my side hurting. It was a pretty slow day, which helped a lot. It was raining this morning, but quite after a half hour. The sun kind of broke though the clouds, shining off and on, and it get hot and humid. At least it was hot and sticky to me. One of the guests commented that it felt like it was going to get to be a hot muggy day, and I told him it already was. He replied, "You must be sick, it's only seventy two out now."

Yeah, I think maybe I was sick, probably from this infected tooth. Rhonda was calling to get me in to see the dentist, and I called her at nine thirty when I went on break. Again, it was suppose to be an easy task, call and see when I can get in, hopefully this afternoon. Only, they wanted me to come in on Thursday, and I had to pay off an old bill before they would even look at the tooth. That would be fine if there was an old bill, but every thing should be paid up. Rhonda is going to look into it further, but we are both sure, I should not have any money due, since I paid at the time of service each time I've gone in.

Even if they didn't have the back bill, it wouldn't do me much good waiting until Thursday, I needed something sooner. Rhonda called around and found another dentist that works on a sliding fee, based on income. Only he was twenty five miles further away. I could get in at three this afternoon, have it looked at, x-rayed, and get an antibiotic started. Fine, I could do that. The other guard said he would be fine to work the afternoon alone, since it was slow, and Rhonda would be in around three thirty to help.

So, I was going to be home by one, visit with Rhonda a little, then go to the dentist. Only it got busy right at twelve thirty when I was about to leave. Not anything serious, just a little rush and by quarter too one I was on my way. I had a message on my phone, and when I listened to it, I discovered that Rhonda had thought she needed to come in by one and was on her way.

This was a problem, since she was coming in the van and I had the Jimmy. The Jimmy needs some work, doesn't get very good gas mileage, and we had planned on switching vehicles out this afternoon. I tried calling her, but could get no answer. So, I hoped I would be able to get her attention when I met her on my way home. I met her about nine miles from home. She seen me and turned around, while I stopped. I explained that she did not need to come in until three thirty, and she followed me back to the house, where we had a quick bite to eat, switched vehicles, and I was off to the dentist.

It was just that kind of day, little things that made it difficult, but all in all, a good day. I seen the dentist's assistant, she looked at the tooth, took an x-ray, and said the same thing they had told Rhonda. I would need to take some antibiotics for the infection and then come back to have the work done. She did want the dentist to look at the tooth and the x-ray, to determine the best course of action, however.

He came in and was very nice, looked at the tooth, the redness in the gums and the gunk coming from around the tooth. The x-ray showed a piece of the filling had busted out, between the two teeth, and it was open to the root. It was also pretty badly infected, and he wanted to take the tooth out right then. It was unlikely it could be saved, and there is no tooth under it, so it really doesn't do anything, so I consented to have it pulled and he shot my mouth full of Novocaine, then let me sit and wait for a bit.

When he came back, my mouth was numb and I was ready to have him pull the tooth. I expected it to come out hard, the one below it had been very difficult to pull. But, he pushed against the side and it shifted. He then got a hold of it and twisted it a little and it pulled right out. It really didn't take much at all, and I would have to agree, it would have been senseless to try and save it.

He cleaned the socket up and said that with the tooth out, the infection should stop, and I didn't even need to get any medication. Not even anything for pain. It was pulled out by four thirty this afternoon, and it really doesn't hurt at all, even now. In fact, it feels kind of good not to have that throbbing pain. Now I just have to take it easy for a few days and I should be as good as new.