Gap-toothed Me Goes to the Dentist.

I don't remember the last time I went to see a dentist.  Wait, let me rephrase that, I remember the last time I saw dentist; however I don't specifically remember how long ago that was.  I do remember the incident, in which during a game of what should have been "touch" football, I was involved in a sort of dog-pile, and my bridge was knocked out. 

Now that may seem like quite the serious injury or incident, but not really.  I actually have to bridges, supporting one false tooth each.  I have had these since I was about 17 (roughly, anyway).  These bridges are called butterfly bridges, or more accurately, a Maryland Bridge.  For reference, this is what a Maryland Bridge looks like:

These are inexpensive, as far as dental standards go, however they are prone to failure.  Not only that, but in my particular case, one of my teeth is decaying underneath the bridge. I found this out after my bridge failed, again, while eating a taco. 

So made an appointment to see a dentist, who was very calm and pleasant.  But I also knew, I was due for a bit of a but chewing, given the fact it had been so long since I had seen a dentist. 

After he reattached the bridge, he pulled up a chair, and said, "Now we need to talk."

So he said my teeth are a mess, and given the fact I have decent dental coverage, there was absolutely no reason I wasn't being seen at least once a year in order to get them cleaned.  On top of that, as I mentioned, my front tooth is decaying underneath the bridge. 

It should be know my parents spent a fair chunk of change on my smile.  Here is a picture of their efforts.

Now imagine, if you will, two teeth missing.  This is what I would look like then.

So, there you have it.  My sister and I frequently like to remind my father this is all his fault (after all, its his DNA that left us toothless).  My sister even went so far as to let me know I would fit in with the beaver exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which incidental, earned her a smack across the face, and a "You deserved that" from my mother).  I should note I certainly do not endorse violence, and I was about 10 at the time.  Call it a learning experience.  I did, however, get a stern lecture from mom regarding violence and the unacceptable practice of hitting women.  But in the end, Sis had it coming.  I'll defend me stance on that till the day I die.

But I digress. I go back to see the Dentist on Tuesday morning.  A thorough cleaning and exam to make an attack plan to replace both bridges.  Yippee. 

I guess I should be glad the dental coverage we have is decent enough.  And, since its near the end of the year, we should be able to break it up into this year and next year, taking advantage of this years and the new years allowance from my dental insurance.  So this is a good thing.  I'm sure I'll have more as time moves on.

House Arrest and Vivid Dreams.

Its been about a week now that I have been sick.  So here is a rundown of me and my activities.

First, I don't go anywhere.  I'm pretty much on house arrest.  Wife would kill me if she know I was out among the populace spreading my germs to the unsuspecting masses. Normally, I don't mind being home and not going anywhere.  But, there has been one problem in all of this.

Anyone who has been to my home knows its not very big.  While the lot we sit on is massive, compared to others around us, the house itself takes up a relitively small amount of area.  So where do I go?  What do I do?  I have been reduced to watching TV, playing games, reading a book (which I honestly have done very little of), or sleeping.  The first two and the last one seem to be taking up the bulk of my time. Which is good really.  Afterall, I am sick, and when one is sick they should be well rested.  

I will say this:  I now firmly believe people don't really understand the importance of being able to come and go from their homes as they please.  I ventured forth to get myself a sandwhich yesterday and the simple act of getting out of the the house was one of the simplist things I could do, and quite honestly one of the most liberating (yeah, I know, I used the liberating). 

Second, I have been having crazy, crazy dreams. Normally, I can never remember my dreams.  I have actually heard this is a side effect of sleep apnia.  When the body never actually gets to the REM cycle of sleep you can never be in a state where dreams become clear and undestadable (Wife says I have apnia, but I don't know if I believe her; I have never heard myself stop breathing in the middle of the night).  Most times, after having a dream, I wake up thinking, "Holy crap! That was weird."  Then after about 5 minutes I can't remember a thing about it.  This is not the case lately. 

I remember, in vivid detail, a dream I had a couple of days ago.  I remember, in vivid detail, the dream that woke me up this morning.  And its small details, that stand out the most. 

One of the things from the other day: It started with me getting pulled over by the CHP.  The reason?  My tires extended past the fenders and I didn't have mudflaps. 

Are you serious??Why on earth would I dream about something like that??  I have never even had a car where that is an issue.  Nor would I ever even consider augmenting my car with didiculous wheel sets like that in the first place.  So why would I dream about that?? 

Last nights dream:  I was at a local Casino and stole a car from the casino floor. It was an older car, colored green, something like the old Studebaker the neighbor had who lived accross the street from me when I was growing up.  Why would this stick out so clearly?  I remember the name of the casino:  Adam Adama's Casino (Not very orrignial, brain.  Not very orrigianl at all).  Adam Adama's??  Is that the best my sleeping brain can come up with? 

So, some who are reading this are probably dissecting these tidbits and looking to find their hidden meaning.  I should point out that I have left out crazy amounts of dream material here to avoid just such a thing.  Why, you ask? Because I don't believe dreams are much more than just that: dreams.  And being sick and the amount of sleep I am getting is, in my belief, simply a catalyst for having increased amounts of dreams and more of a chance to remember them. 

So, today is Saturday.  Poor Wife is home from work today, and gets the pleasure of putting up with me all day long.  Good for her.  She also has the ability to leave whenever she wants.  She is not on house arrest. 

I, am going out to the other room and turning on a game. 

My arm gets a new pulse.

To begin this post, I want to refer to one of my favorite online references, Dictionary.com.

The word TRUST is defined there as: Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.

So, who earns trust? Well, Wife for one. She has my complete and total trust. That’s not something a person simply gives out freely or on a whim. Family has my trust. Certain friends have my trust.

And now Glenn has my trust.

Anyone reading this is probably thinking, “Who is this Glenn you speak of?”

As it turns out he is a tattoo artist (Thank goodness I broke this news to Mom a little while ago, I don’t know if she could have handled it delivered in this venue. Sis, well, sorry, but this is what you get).

For quite some time now I have had the growing desire to get a tattoo. Wife, as many people know and some people don’t, has many. Very tasteful. Very neat. And they are a part of her. They all have meaning to her, even her little tattoo of Yoda has a certain meaning that she holds dear.

OK, enough about her, lets move on to me. After all, I am the author here and this blog is all about me.

So, back to a growing desire. I have put a lot of thought into this, about five years worth (at least I can say I went into this with plenty of forethought). There were certain things I wanted to accomplish here. I wanted it to be tasteful. I will not have anything below the sleeve of a short sleeve shirt. I want it to have symbolism that’s important to me.

So, who are the two people in my life that mean the most to me? Well, obviously that would be Wife and Ben. Wife and I have been looking at the Chinese Fu Lions for quite some time. They come in pairs. They are typically found outside Chinese temples and palaces. They are male and female. The male sits on the left side, the female on the right. The male holds an orb under his paw representing something treasured and important. The female holds under her paw a cub, representing children and value of life.

This general definition fits into my criteria perfectly. So, tasteful and meaningful design has been chosen. Next on the list, to find the appropriate artist to accomplish this task.

I did quite a lot of internet searching for a proper place and person. Wife, who was extremely excited about this project (and very jealous) said we could pretty much go anywhere that would make me comfortable. So I broadened my search outside the area, and came across Triangle Tattoo and Museum: Art With a Pulse.

Triangle Tattoo is located in beautiful Fort Bragg, CA. The scenery there is fairly similar to that of our hometown of Eureka. Port town, right on the ocean, and the weather is similar. However, if one is interested, SCUBA diving is infinitely better in the Fort Bragg area than here in Humboldt. The difference in water clarity is absolutely amazing.

So I got on the web site and did a little investigating. Triangle Tattoo has been in Fort Bragg for over 25 years (aka: well established). The head honcho, Mr. G, has written numerous articles for Skin and Ink Magazine (aka: he is well respected). Madame Chinchilla has written articles and books, and also is an artist (aka: also well respected). Over all, I could find nothing wrong with Triangle Tattoo. Time to look into artists.

After looking at their portfolios on line, I came down to two: Professor H. Glenn, and Erin Honest.

I called to make my appointment, told the friendly gal on the other end of the line I wanted to make an appointment, and then told her I was undecided about who I wanted to do the work. She asked me what I was looking for and maybe she could help with that decision. In the end, she recommended Glenn.

She was right on. I emailed a couple of pictures to Glenn. One I found on the internet of a Fu Lion statue and another I had hand drawn (mind you, this was a very rough sketch). Then I had to wait. I arranged this appointment over a month in advance, so there was quite a bit of waiting.

The day of the appointment Wife and I arrived about an hour early, wanting to get a look at the artwork in case there were any last minute changes to make. I couldn’t have asked for it to look any more like what I wanted. No revisions needed.

For the first sitting, I was in the fighting chair for about five and a half hours. Second sitting, about a month and half later, was four and a half hours. The finished product, as I see it, is something I’ll be happy to be living with for the rest of my life. Both Wife and I are very extremely pleased with the end result.

So to Glenn, I say this, “You are the man!” To Erin, who was doing an amazing piece while Glenn was finishing my arm, I say this, “I need to have you do something for me in the future.” And to Madame Chinchilla, Wife and I both say this, “We hope your tooth issues are resolved and you’re feeling better.”

Thanks to Triangle Tattoo, and especially Glenn, for putting your Pulse on me.

Blogging Old School. Yeah, pen and ink.

***If you have trouble reading this as it is, simply click on the picture, and open it up as a much larger and easier to read picture***

***PS - This post turned out to look exactly as I wanted it to.  I'm so proud of myself***

A little photo documentation.

OK, so I had planned to do this the other day, but in the end, my own laziness got the better of me and I failed miserably to follow through. 

So now, when I should be sleeping, I am wide awake and fighting a budding head cold which is making me miserable.  But enough with the unpleasantries, on with the show.

On Tuesday I was awake and it was indeed beautiful out, so I actually did grab my little camera and headed out to see some of the things I rarely take advantage of, or at least on a regular basis take for granted.  What follows is a little photo essay with some small commentaries by yours truly.  

Good looking sunrise? Check!  Camera? Check!  Off I go.  First stop was the pier at the end of Del Norte Street.  For those of you unfamiliar with this, its back behind Costco.  And for reference, I believe its the only place in Eureka where you don't have to have a fishing license.

While there I found a younger fellow tossing a crab trap over the side. In his 5 gallon polly bucket he had even had crab!

Awesome.  For those who have never had it, fresh crab is like to fillet mignon of the sea!  So tasty, and so readily available here its really a shame to never take advantage of it.  If you don't know someone with a boat who goes crabbing, there is always fresh crab for sail at the marina.

The North Coast is crawling with berry vines.  My own back yard is crawling with it, and its a management nightmare!  however, this vine here was catching a the sun just right and looked kind of neat.  So here it is.  Apparently its possible to to love and hate these crazy vines.

After hanging out here for a little while I then made my way to Woodly Island.  One of the marinas here in town.  There, one the west side of the island is the tribute to fisherman lost at sea.

Called "The Fisherman," he is a tribute to those "whom the sea sustained... and those it claimed."

So there you have it, a little photo-documentation of sights to see here on the North Coast. 

Now, over the weekend, Wife and I went to Fort Bragg to get away from life here for a day or two, and to finish a small project.  I'll be posting the trip here in the next day or two. 

Stay tuned.

Awake and ready to go, apparently.

Its currently 9:01 in the AM.  I am awake, a rather large accomplishment considering I work night shift, and its absolutely gorgeous outside.

This was the sunrise over my backyard this morning.  So now I am left with the quandry:  What shall I do today? 

I have the urge to get the camera and just drive around for a while and provide some photo documentation of my area and the goings on here, and in all likelyhood, thats what I am going to do (and besides, that will give me a good excuse to go to Smugs Pizza for lunch, never a bad idea!).

So, apparently this is just a teaser.  There should be more to follow later this afternoon.