T - Minus 6 Hours

I wonder what the "T" stands for? After a short night of sleep in which I awoke every hour on the hour waiting for this day to arrive I finally got up to jot down my random thoughts during the night about going to the dentist in 6 hours. Spend a moment with me as I write because you will see what a wimp I am when it comes to dentists.
** What is the difference between a dentist and an oral surgeon? The dentist pulls teeth while the oral surgeon does tooth extractions.
** Pain-free dentistry? Surely this is an oxymoron. In reality I can say I have never been in physical pain because of dental work. However, the emotional anguish more than makes up for the lack of physical pain.
** I remember the time I passed out in the dental chair before the dentist even touched me! Yes, I was an adult at the time.
** Back in the old days when you were required to get a blood test before your got married I decided that I would distract myself from the mandated needle work by reciting scripture verses. After the alcohol rub and with the approach of the needle I started to recite John 3:16. I didn't even make it though the verse before I was out cold!
** Irrational fears are real. Praise God I only have just this one. And roller coasters, heights, snakes, blood, needles, missed free throws, missed 3-foot putts, cottage cheese, lima beans, broken bones, lack of cookies, and maybe one or two more that I may have overlooked.
** Random thought at 3:15 AM - "I wonder if the oral surgeon is sleeping better than me?"


I am listening to Maurice Ravel's Bolero as I type this post. Bolero is my all-time favorite classical piece of music. I first heard it while watching Torvel and Dean (Canadian figure skating couple) skate to this music at the world championships. They scored perfect 10's. Everyone was astounded at their performance. It was the first time a perfect score had been given in the pairs competition. The music had much to do with the dramatic and fantastic routine. Ever since hearing this piece in the early 80's I have loved it.


Last nights President's Address: How convenient it is to have DVR. Last night I had activities at the church to attend to so I was did not get the chance to watch the real-time teleprompting session from President "O". Catching up to it later I noticed we have gone from 47 million uninsured to 30 million uninsured. If we hold out another 90 days perhaps he will lower the figure to 15 million which is about where most authorities say the true number lies.

The census figures show that there are 13 million poor children not covered by insurance. Yet every state has some variety of a CHIP program. How can we still have uninsured children? Studies have shown that there are about 6.5 million children enrolled in a CHIP program that did not report this fact on the census forms. Children who have not enrolled in a CHIP program but go to the hospital for treatment are enrolled in the program by most hospitals (so as to be reimbursed for their services) during their stay at the hospital. In effect this means that there is no poor child not eligible for insurance unless the parents absolutely refuse to avail themselves of this program.

My reflections on President "O" calling for civil discourse on health care reform. In his mind, civil discourse translates into "agreeing with me." Any disagreement, by his definition, means that one is mean spirited, uncivil, and should not be listened to (shut out of the discourse.) Of course this will not happen so it will be a bumpy ride until some form of reform is forced upon use from the Washington Cartel.


Bolero is finished and I need to get some errands run before I head to the dentist/oral surgeon/Armageddon. Next time you read my blog I'll have one less wisdom tooth!
It is now T - minus 5 hours.


Blessings