Skip to main content

Extension

These days, the Mild Wife and I usually go to the dentist on the same day. We have schedules that allow us to be flexible, so we can time our appointments to line up on the same day. We're fortunate enough that we don't generally need more than just the regular cleaning, so it's more a matter of when we schedule the prescribed check up. If we're both going to be there for an hour or so, we might as well just go during the same hour.

Given this, though, this means that we both know when the other person's dentist appointment falls. Most of the time, that detail is useful because I can remind the Mild Wife that there's a dentist appointment the following week, or vice versa. It's a little thing, but it also helps to mentally track where we need to be on any given day.

This most recent time, however, this little detail led to quite a bit of hilarity. On a random evening, I noticed that the bi-annual dentist appointment was coming up, so I mentioned this to the Mild Wife. This immediately drew a mild sense of alarm, in part because sometimes we forget that bacteria doesn't take the weekend off. Now, just to be clear, we brush regularly and I think it's been decades since either of us has had a cavity. Basically, our teeth are in pretty good shape. Still, whenever you know you're about to be "tested" by the dentist, you might start wondering if you need to start putting in a little bit more effort. I mean, you don't want to have a disapproving glare or to have them tell you that you need some extra procedure.

The Mild Wife started joking about asking for an extension, so that we both had more time to prepare. We could floss more regularly, brush a little more carefully, and eat fewer items that stain our teeth. Basically, we could cram for our dentist appointment, and the dentist would give us both passing grades. We both laughed, and went about our business.

Well, as it turns out, the universe has quite the sense of humor. I found out shortly thereafter that I had to be somewhere on the day of our dentist appointment. It was the sort of thing that couldn't really be rescheduled, and it was important enough that I wasn't going to just skip it. In short, we had to reschedule our dentist appointment. Put another way, we got our extension.

I, for one, have been trying to make the most of this time. I'm pretty sure I've been a little more diligent about flossing lately, and I suspect that brushing my teeth has taken a tad longer, on average, the last few weeks. Incidentally, this also means that I laugh at myself every single time I brush my teeth. I have to say, this extension is working out pretty well for us.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nicknames Again

In a post from a while back , I mentioned that people around me end up with nicknames fairly frequently. It's not always my doing, but I am more than happy to play along. Of course, the best part isn't the actual nickname, it's always the back story that leads to the nickname. And since it's been a while since that previous post, I've picked up a few more stories about nicknames that are worth a chuckle. So, without further ado, I present to you: "ADT" You know how people pay for security systems for their houses? One of the most well-known companies is called ADT . My brother likes to say that he has no need for said security systems because one of his neighbors is constantly on the lookout for what's going on in the neighborhood. She's like a one-person neighborhood watch, complete with a side of the neighborhood gossip. He has actually come home and had her tell him about the comings and goings of his wife. My brother's smart aleck str...

All Good Things ...

August 8, 2009. Over twelve years ago, I started blogging with this simple post . I didn't really have a great reason for starting the blog, other than I wanted to try it out. I wanted to try writing and putting it where others could read it. I don't know, it just seemed like a new adventure to try. Along the way, there have been all sorts of posts and all sorts of life events, but through it all, I kept writing. It just became a part of what I do at some point. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to write a blog post, it was a matter of when. The Mild Wife has described it as a "writing practice," and it was one of the reasons why I kept writing. Honestly, it's good practice, and it gives me an opportunity to hone my craft. I'm no professional author, but we all have to write stuff in our everyday lives. Why not give yourself reps to get better at it? However, I think it's time for that practice to change. My weekly anecdotes sure kept me amused...

Timer

There are a bunch of everyday tasks around the Mild Home that require waiting some amount of time. Say I put want to put something in the oven, I need to make sure that I take it out after a set amount of time. I mean, bad things happen if you leave food in the oven for a long time. If you're lucky, it's just inedible; if you're unlucky, then the smoke alarm is involved. Quite a few of them involve food (steep the tea for X minutes, uncover the pot after Y minutes, etc.), so that should come as no surprise. However, I recently had to use baking soda and vinegar to help unclog a sink. As I discovered, you don't just dump those things down the sink. You wait 5-10 minutes after mixing those ingredients in the sink, to let them do their thing. Otherwise, it just fizzes for a bit, and nothing really happens. In either case, I needed to wait for a set amount of time. Now, when it comes to setting a timer, I have a few options. There are timers on the stove and on my cell phon...