Well I survived the root canal, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy! I think for me the worst part was not the actual procedure, but the sounds. I can't stand the sounds of the drills and other equipment used. I still have to go back for 3 more appointments to finish up the job. Then the next step is the wisdom teeth removal in mid March, which should be relatively easy cause I'm getting nitrous oxide gas. Not only will I not feel a thing, I won't care!

As I said in my last post the dentist gave me vicoden and Thursday after the root canal I came home and took some vicoden so I wouldn't be in pain when the Novocain wore off. I fell asleep on the sofa for a few hours until my dad woke me up for dinner (I can finally eat solid food!!). In my groggy state I was going down the stairs, missed a step, and fell down hitting the ceramic tile rather hard. I had a shooting pain going up my back and couldn't get up (help I've fallen and can't get up! lol). After lying there for a few minutes and let some of the pain subside I was finally able to get up, although I had thrown my back out and movement is somewhat limited for the time being. While I was laying on the floor I started laughing, my dad was like "this is not funny, why are you laughing?" but honestly what else could possibly happen to me, I'm a walking disaster...So I'm spreading my lesson, never go up and down stairs while under the influence of heavy pain killers, It could be dangerous!

Ok, so I've been having issues with my wisdom teeth, and had an appointment with the oral surgeon late in March for him to look at them, then decide what to do. Well last week my mouth started killing me, and as the week went on the pain got worse. I had an appointment with my regular dentist for a routine cleaning on Monday so I thought I'd wait, go to the appointment and talk to him about removing that one tooth. As it turned out the dentist wasn't even in the office that day (just my luck) and they couldn't even clean my teeth because my mouth was so swollen. They advised me to call the oral surgeon as soon as possible. I managed to get a new appointment the next day with the surgeon. As it turns out it wasn't the wisdom tooth, but my back molar, next to the impacted wisdom tooth. So the oral surgeon sent me back to the regular dentist to have him look at it.

Because the dentists waited so long to remove my wisdom teeth, one of them had infected the root of my lower molar hence the extreme pain. So now I have to have a root canal. But they can't do that right away, cause that would be too easy, they have to get rid of the infection. So I had to start a aggressive treatment of antibiotics, and the root canal is tomorrow afternoon (I'm absolutely terrified). I finally got a prescription for vicoden last night (where has that been my whole life! That stuff rocks!!!). I still have problems swallowing cause my mouth is so swollen, and I still can't eat anything solid (I've been living off of jello and pudding for a week now). After this is done, I get to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled on March 14...does the fun ever stop!

**We salute the improvement of the human genome
by honoring those who remove themselves from it.
Of necessity, this honor is generally bestowed posthumously.

Lava Lamp
2004 Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed True by Darwin

(30 November 2004, Washington) Twenty-four year old Philip was found dead in the bedroom of his trailer home, with burnt remains of a Lava Lamp strewn over his kitchen. Puzzled investigators eventually pieced together a likely scenario for Philip's last moments.

Lava lamps are a mesmerizing distraction. Philip couldn't wait to fire up his new Lava Lamp. He plugged it in and waited for the pretty globs to begin their surreal dance. But after several frustrating minutes, nothing happened. Then a bright idea hit him: "Why not accelerate this painfully slow process?" He took the lamp to the kitchen, placed it on the stove, and turned up the heat.

In short order, the wax melted and began its sinuous dance. But the liquid was designed to be warmed by a 40-watt bulb. It was over-heated. Entranced by the display, Philip forgot that "heat expands". Whereas there was no room for expansion in the glass bottle, the Lava Lamp resorted to a violent explosion to relieve the pressure.*

One thick shard of glass blew straight through Philips's chest and into his heart. Philip stumbled into his bedroom, perhaps uttering "Aeternum vale!" (latin: farewell forever) as he collapsed and died.

Police found no evidence of alcohol or drug use, so it is safely presumed that Philip was in full possession of his senses when he went out with a bang.

* Why the instructions warn NEVER to place the lamp directly on a heat source, such as a stove

The book: Darwin Awards: Survival of the fittest

There hasn't been many things that have been able to cheer me up lately, but during class today I was surfing the web and found this article which made me smile, even for a brief moment (which I needed after my embarrising emotional breakdown at work today, but that is another post). So here is the article...

Cheney Alert

The government plans to establish a color-coded system to warn of future veep attacks

Feb. 13, 2006 - Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced today that his department would immediately implement a “Cheney Alert” system to warn Americans if an attack by the vice president is imminent. The Department of Homeland Security has been under pressure to respond to the widespread panic and anxiety that have gripped the nation since Cheney shot and wounded a fellow quail hunter while on a hunting trip in Texas over the weekend.

Across the country, people have holed up in their homes and hoarded food and water, fearing another senseless attack by the gun-toting vice president.

“What we have learned, the hard way, is that Dick Cheney can attack without warning,” Chertoff said. “It is our hope that with this Cheney Alert system we will be able to give the American people some warning before he strikes again.”

The alert system, with five color-coded levels indicating the likelihood of another brutal pellet attack by the Vice President, was derided by some in Congress such as Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del), who likened it to “closing the barn door after the horses have escaped.”

“The fact is, the White House already had ample warning that Dick Cheney was going to strike, and they sat on their hands and did nothing,” Biden said, referring to a Presidential Daily Brief dated February 4 with the title, “Dick Cheney Determined to Strike in U.S.”

Elsewhere, former Education Secretary William Bennett said that he was “outraged” that an NHL gambling ring has been in operation for five years and he was never invited to participate in it.

Gun bearer: Cheney (center), shown here at a 2004 National Rifle Association convention, accidentally shot and hurt a fellow quail hunter in Texas

I haven't written in awhile but I haven't felt like writing lately. So to sum things up my life sucks, I just don't care anymore, and there are no words to describe how much I hate my mother. Ever have the thought that you're better off dead...I've been having way too many of those thoughts lately...