Bad Boomer's Place

I never thought much about dentists, having lost several teeth when I was young because I never went to the dentist.  I soon realized I should be going, and started regular visits in my mid-20's.  But over the last 10 years or so, I've had occasion to move quite often (4 dentists in as many years), and I began to wonder about something.

Every time I go to a new dentist for the first time, during the initial examination, they seem to find a lot of work that needs to be done.  These are things that were not mentioned by my previous dentist, even if my last examination was less than 6 months in the past.  So, what does this mean?

Either my previous dentist was incompetent, or the new dentist is prescribing work that is not necessary.  I wonder how many people go to a new dentist for the first time and are NOT told they need work to be done?  Also, after I have been with the same dentist for few years, they always find something that needs to be done, even if I have not noticed anything different.

Is this standard operating procedure for dentists?  Is it a scam?

BB

I have been watching the television show "Fringe." It involves an alternate universe, similar to ours, but with some differences. This got me thinking about alternate universes and time. I came to the conclusion that, if there are alternate universes, they either have to be exactly the same, or very, very different. It is highly unlikely, maybe even impossible, for two universes to be similar but not exact.

Why? Because of time. Any difference, no matter how small, will start a new time line that will multiply the differences. The more time goes by, the more the differences spread and multiply. So, in order for an alternate universe to be similar to ours (but not exact), one of two possibilities would have to exist - both of which are extremely unlikely. The first possibility is that both universes are brand new. This is obviously not the case with our universe. The other possibility is that the two universes have been identical until very recently. In other words, we just happen to live at the single point in time when the very first difference between the universes appeared. As you can see, this is also very unlikely.

BB

I have always worn a lot of T-shirts, mostly those with some kind of logo or design.  They seem to last a long time.  I am still wearing T-shirts that I have had for years.  I have T-shirts that represent places I have visited, places I have worked, clubs and organizations I belong to, and just randomly chosen T-shirts in near-by stores.  I have an entire collection that I used to wear under my shirt when I was working.  This collection does not have any design or logo T-shirts, but there are many different colors.

But, T-shirts in my possession have a complete 2^nd life.  After they become too old, worn, or faded, they go into my rag box.  Their 2^nd life is for cleaning, for wiping, and for wrapping around my head to soak up the sweat when I am working in the yard.  So, these T-shirts have an even longer life than expected.  They have a long life as a garment, and a long 2^nd life as a rag.  I sure get my money’s worth!

When I pull one of these rag T-shirts out of the rag box to wrap around my head, or to use as a a cleaning cloth, often I will notice the design or logo on the shirt.  This brings back the memory of the place where I bought it, the place that I worked, or the club or organization I was a member of.  This is yet another purpose fulfilled by these garments.  In addition to clothing and cleaning rags, they are also holders of memories.  Pretty good for the lowly T-Shirt!

BB

I have a frozen shoulder.  This is a recurrence of a condition I had several years ago.  I know that it sounds like some kind of cut of meat for the table, but it is actually a problem where you have a lot of pain in your shoulder and arm, and you lose a lot of your range of motion.  It is also called an Encapsulated Shoulder.

The last time I had this, a month or two of physical therapy, along with nightly exercises, eventually made it go away.  So, I guess I will be repeating that experience.  There is also a possibility that a shot of cortisone would relieve the problem, by my orthopedic surgeon and I have agreed to try the therapy first.  I always lean to the side of no drugs if I can.

This does not seem to be a structural problem, or something you catch.  It has something to do with inflammation.  It is as if your shoulder just gives up and becomes lazy.  Moving your arm beyond the limited range of motion causes substantial pain, and moving within the limited range of motion, but moving too rapidly can cause the pain as well.

Evidently, moving to a warmer climate will not thaw out a frozen shoulder.

BB

About 10 years ago, I started taking Paxil and Nortriptolene because I was not sleeping well at night and I was having irritability problems at work.  These drugs worked extremely well for the irritability, and so-so for the sleeping.  Unfortunately, within a few weeks I had gained 10 pounds!

I have always been very thin.  As a sophomore in high school, I weighed 99 pounds and looked like a 10 year-old “leave it to Beaver.”  In junior high, the other students called me “mousy.”  As I got older, I grew taller and gained some weight, but not much.  Between high school and my mid-40’s my waist size slowly went from a 29 to 33.  I still only weighed something like 145.

Don’t get me wrong, I am still not very heavy.  I am 63 now, 5’ 10” tall, and currently weigh 160 pounds, but in the last several years I have been as high as 180.  I would like to be down to 155 again.  This would feel normal to me and be a healthy weight for me as well.

When I gained the weight, most of it went to my belly, and even now there is a small pot-belly under my belt (my breasts are also strangely noticeable).  My waist size now is somewhere between 34 and 35 inches.  Now those of you who have a bigger weight problem are probably laughing now and maybe think I am an idiot.  But all my life you could count my ribs, and my body fat was at 12% to 20%.  I am pretty happy with my weight now, but my belly is still noticeable (take a look at a lot of recent pictures here).  When I wear t-shirts, there is a noticeable belly bulge).

Getting rid of this belly has proven very difficult, no matter how much weight I lose or how many sit-ups I do.  So, I have decided that my pot belly is not only sentient, but controls my stomach.  It appears to have a self-preservation instinct.  The more I exercise, the more I eat!  Eating does not seem to be under my control, so I suspect it is my belly that controls it!!

BB