We weren’t able to get to the big family Thanksgiving dinner today because David wasn’t feeling all that well, and also yesterday I had some tummy problems, so instead of stressing out trying to get everything done, we decided to just take it easy for the day. Sorry to miss out on the great food, but that’s how it is. We at least had turkey for sandwiches and we’ll have a little something easy for dinner shortly.

Here are some of the things I’m thankful for anyway:

• We have our health, for the most part (stitches out, no more Frankenmouth, yay)
• We were able to go to London and had a lovely time being tourons
• We have an incredible family, especially Shel and Leah, David’s parents
• I didn’t blow up the microwave earlier
• David has fixed a problem with the stove (but looking forward to a future remodel)
• We both have fulfilling jobs, something not everyone can say this year

Oh, and I’m thankful that I have the day off tomorrow, something that doesn’t usually happen. Scheduling on my team got less complicated so next year I have it off, too. However, I am NOT setting foot in a store.

If you think dentistry is squicky or disgusting, it’s probably best if you just move along to something else, possibly involving unicorns frolicking in a meadow. With spoons.
That said, let’s move on to the events leading up to yesterday’s rather unpleasant activities, which involved:

1. A loud sucking noise, with disturbing interruptions that went “THHHUPPP!
2. A nice man and lady discussing Polish films while doing awful things to me.
3. Large metal implements that looked like pliers and thumbscrews THAT WERE IN MY MOUTH.
4. My head being used for leverage, very thoroughly but considerately.

Clearly, I was not having a great time, but it actually wasn’t that bad, especially since I couldn’t really see what was going on. I was Tweeting things beforehand with a hashtag of #isitsafe, but it wasn’t horrible torture. It was necessary because for the last couple of years, I neglected to floss consistently, and didn’t get in to see my regular dentist because I didn’t want to deal with my “problem” upper back molar.

My dentist Dr. Salzberg is a wonderful guy, and he’d put a crown up in there to replace a really bad filling that had broken. In fact, that one molar has been a problem for at least 15 years or more; it may have been done when I was still living in Salt Lake, although it may date from some dental work I had in Eugene in college.

The crown was never really a success; there just wasn’t that much material left to attach it to, and there was a little ledge under it that tended to collect food. Dr Salzberg told me he thought we needed to re-do it or something 2 years ago, and I didn’t want to deal with it, and avoided the issue by not going in for regular cleanings.

Well, that’ll learn me.

Here is where you should stop reading if you really don’t want to know too much about modern dentistry, or pliers, or souped-up Dremel tools that go where they have never gone before.

I will add that my periodontist, Dr Dan Greising, is a wonderful person, very calm and caring, and he actually called me at home last night to see how I was doing.  David was absolutely floored.

Now then, on to the needless details of my oral surgery yesterday. You have been warned.

Continue reading →

Wednesday’s storm was enough for a co-worker to text all of us saying “OMG Mother Nature is angry!!” after she got home and the storm hit near Midway.
Thousands without power after storm hits area :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Metro & Tri-State

Severe storms passed through the Chicago area Wednesday evening and several funnel clouds were spotted in a storm that knocked out power to at least 220,000 Commonwealth Edison customers.

The National Weather Service is investigating reports of a tornado having touched down in Downers Grove about 5:30 p.m., although they had not yet confirmed it, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Ben Deubelbeiss, who said the service will not be able to confirm whether a tornado hit until Thursday morning.

No big deal by us, I said at the time. Then last night about 3:30 am, I was awakened by thunder and lightning, very very frightning. At 4:00 AM, all hell broke loose and sheets of rain were hitting the house. Rileycat was very, very tense and freaked out when I bumped into him in the dark as I went around looking out of windows. David got woken up about then by a huge crash of thunder, and he checked on things downstairs and unplugged computers – even though we have power strips and UPS’s on most of our major electronics.

And oh goodie, we’re not done yet.

Rain, lightning, thunder, high winds and power outages reappeared in Chicagoland overnight, making what has already been one of the wettest Junes on record even wetter.

After ComEd was finally able to repair damage done by storms early last week, the utility was faced with even more difficulty after the storms moved through the area around 4 a.m. this morning.

As of 9 a.m., according to ComEd spokesperson, 13,600 customers were without power in Chicago and the suburbs following the storm. In Chicago itself, there were 4,800 without power, 2,500 in the south suburbs, 600 in the western suburbs, and 5,700 in the northern suburbs.

That storm has moved southeast, and the weather outlook is calmer for the rest of the morning and afternoon, but it will be hot and humid, with highs expected to reach the 90s. And the rain hasn’t gone away completely — there’s a chance of a storm this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow.

We have a lot of stuff that we’ve been saving up for this community recycling event. Village of Hoffman Estates : Growing to Greenness!

Tomorrow at 9am, the guy comes to install the ceiling fans in the two “guest” bedrooms. Here’s the pictorial story so far:

We load up on a thousand dollars’ worth of flooring, the same color and brand of “lock & fold” engineered stuff that finally saved the day on the original Floor Project from Hell.

This time, we’ve also bought the pine quarter round, and bought an undercut saw, because last time we learned that the pre-finished quarter round that’s part of the flooring system was made of some kind of densely impenetrable wood that our pneumatic brad nailer couldn’t handle. The pine came out fine, and I learned a few things about sanding and staining, while David learned how to use the mitre/chop saw we also bought as part of the “we’ve got to salvage our pride and get this damn project done” process. We also have the big bottle of special glue, which was used on exactly 1 run of ripped boards right at the end, and also in the closet a little. Last time, at least during the week or 10 days that it took to finally get it done, we must have made half a dozen trips to one of 3 home improvement stores in the area. Oh – and we also bought a quart of stain, and a quart of polyurethane, rather than do like we did before and buy stuff as we realized we needed it. Got staining pads and the underlayment stuff that the floor floats on, too.

Behold the “guest bedroom,” which has become a complete tip, full of unseasonal clothing, travel bags full of snorkel stuff and Hawaiian sand, some unwanted bedclothes, and discarded junk from the painting job in the smaller room.

We actually would like to have a “guest bedroom” for something called “guests.” It would remain a cat-free zone. And along with that, we’d like the smaller room to become useable space, and not the unsorted laundry version of the Dead Letter Office. I’m toying with the idea of moving my computer(s) up there, but at the least it’s supposed to become a cozy little reading room.

The front hall is suddenly full of DIY loot, plunder, and booty. And fans.

Yesterday we also brought home about $425 worth of ceiling fans, after a rather stressful sourcing expedition to the local specialty shop, Fan C Fans. It’s kind of a weird place, stuffed full of boxes stacked 8 or 10 high, with fans going overhead. And narrow little passages between the stacks of boxes, which wobble a little if you have to squeeze past someone. But the people there are very knowledgeable, and after some discussion they helped us find two fans of the right size and color and whatnot, along with lights and remotes.

Decks cleared, ready for action

This time I’m hoping to be more organized about the work space, as it reduces stress levels all around. The hardest part of the whole job will be after the fans are installed – we have to rip up the carpet and get it hauled downstairs, and get ready to put down the underlayment. Then we have to start laying down the boards so they’re straight and tightly joined. This time, the long wall we start on has a door in it, and we start right there, so… tricky. That’s why David thought the undercut saw would be worth it. If we go on with the master bedroom project, there are 2 more doors, so it seems a reasonable outlay.

With any luck, we could have the subfloor prepped and underlayment done tomorrow. We think we have the plan of attack figured out as far as where we start from when laying the flooring, and what we’re likely to face as we get to the far wall and inside the closet. We hope it’ll go pretty quickly, and will decide when done if we want to tackle the master bedroom, and its much heavier furniture that would have to be moved out temporarily. That would be a separate trip to Loew’s for more flooring and quarter round.

Wish us luck, we’re off to storm the castle!