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Issue #979
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From Sus

From Russ

The Ontarion

Hi All,

Warning! The following story may contain graphic information not suitable for small children. Parental guidance is advised….

Dental work! The necessity we all hate but need! And thats where I found myself, in need of some major dental work. It started with a crown on a back tooth breaking off. Yup, one of those expensive gold crowns just let got. Actually it was the tooth under the crown that snapped off and luckily it snapped off cleanly and horizontally and could the whole thing could be glued back on. First problem fixed. Then, the bridge that fills the gap in the front of my face came loose at one end. (You didn’t think that lovely smile of mine as actually all mine did you)? The assumption was that the root of the anchor tooth at that end was working loose up inside. This bridge had been installed almost 20 years ago and at the time I had asked the dentist how long it would last. He had suggested that it should be good for 15 or 20 years to I didn’t have to worry about it for a long time. Well, that 20 years went by very quickly and now I had a big problem. So, back to the dentist. By the way, I should point out that our current dentist (we’ve been seeing her for about 10 years) is incredibly skilled and very gentle and always up-to-date with the latest dental technology. After examining the situation and after several X-rays to figure out what the issue was, a 3-hr session was booked. The assumption was that the bridge would have to be cut off, the anchor tooth root pulled, the root hole left to heal, and then a new bridge would be installed. The cost would be somewhere near the GDP of some small countries.

Once in the dental chair and after sufficient freezing had been injected, she cut away the old bridge. Low and behold, the anchor tooth in question turned out to be snapped off horizontally. That had not shown in the X-rays. That, however, was in a way actually good new. The root was solid, but should have had a root cannel done 20 years ago when the bridge was installed, but didn’t. So, she did a quick cannel job to deal with that and then finished removing the crowns on the adjacent teeth so the future new bridge could be anchored firmly and strongly. Once all the ‘stubs’ were readied as anchors for the new bridge and the necessary impressions done, she made a temporary bridge that would get me by until the new one could be done. With that one in place, and after laying there for 3.5 hours, I was ready to head home. Because of limited dental office hours available due to the pandemic, and the fact that I had used up a bunch of them, the final work will be done later in the spring. For now, this temp bridge is good to go and is expected to do its job until then. And life goes on.

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To the delight of some and the dismay of others, I’ve got another Ian Tyson song lined up for this week. This one, ‘The Old Double Diamond’ tells the story of a cowhand who worked a good part of his life on a cattle ranch in Wyoming. The ranch has gone under and is being auctioned off. The cowhand, who started off as green, untested kid and grew strong and tough must now move on. All he has to show for his time on the Double Diamond is his saddle but he is proud of that and how he has proven himself. Now its time to find a new ranch to work for, to find new knots to tie, as he turns his ‘tail to the wind, and the Old Double Diamond, disappears in to the sage’. By the way, this is a really hard song to do so don’t be too hard on me. I’ve been working on it for 15 years and still struggle with getting the right ‘sound’.

Old Double Diamond

doug

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From Nova Scotia Sus

I'm sitting at my computer trying to write and my cat has other ideas. She's extra playful this morning and getting into places she shouldn't be. So I'm up and down trying to distract her. At last she is heading for the door which may or not be what she wants. She is only a year and half old and full of the devil but I love her to death. She is not venturing far in our deep snow and acts surprised each time she goes out looking back to see if this is a good idea. I know I have spoiled her and it's my fault she acts this way. We have been doing a lot of digging lately from the last two snow storms and an ice storm in between, up till recently enjoying an easy winter.

Since the temps were looking perfect for the maple syrup season we ventured out with our snowshoes to tap 30 trees. I keep a record from year to year of when we do this and also for planting our seedlings for the greenhouse. We have been eating our own lettuce for the last month that we planted in our 3 tier growing lighting system in our spare room. All this keeps us busy through these winter months. We managed to dig through 3 feet of snow to get to our carrots in the garden. We had put lots of straw and leaves on them last fall so they wouldn't freeze over winter. It's a great way to store the carrots over winter but a job to get at them later.

Rosemary I sure enjoyed your video and could relate to most of it. The music was great too. Thanks for that. Thanks to all who contribute.

Russell I remember Aunt Aggie, she was quite an amazing lady.

Take care everyone

Sus

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From Russ

Teeth

Just mention ‘teeth’ and immediately my tongue does a quick ‘sweep’.

“Million-year-old mammoth’s teeth yield world’s oldest DNA” National Geographic.

Scientists have sequenced the oldest DNA yet – opening an unprecedented window into the evolution of North America’s extinct Ice Age giants – the Columbian and Woolly mammoths, nearly doubling the record for the oldest genome ever sequenced.

“The DNA comes from three mammoth’s molars found in Siberia in the early 1970’s by Russian paleontologist Andrei Sher, a legend in the field for his mammoth research. Researchers estimate that the youngest of the three teeth is about 500,000 to 800,000 years old, while the older two are between one million and 1.2 million years old. The next oldest DNA ever sequenced came from a nearly 700,000- year-old horse fossil found in Canada’s Yukon Territory”.

Where did these JUMBO elephants come from?

“By I.5 million years ago, relatives of Europe and Asia’s steppe mammoth had arrived in North America from Siberia, crossing a land bridge now covered by the Bering Strait. By about 100,000 to 200,000 years ago, North America was home to at least two main types of mammoths: Woolly mammoths in the north, and Columbian mammoths as far south as Mexico”.

Don’t tell anybody, but Columbian mammoths and Woolly mammoths interbred. And if you really want to know more about these Big Boys go ahead and look them up in National Geographic. I did.

I read somewhere mammoth’s tusks grow to well over 10 feet long – tusks are really the animal’s ‘eye-teeth’, but the scientists don’t get the DNA samples from these, they capture the DNA from the upper jaw teeth.

Which brings me to the reason for the ‘subject’ of this week’s column:

I have a dental appointment Monday, March 1st for what they call “Deep cleaning”. How many of you just swiped your teeth with your tongue?

I hate ‘deep cleaning torture’ with a passion!

First, they measure how much the gums have receded by poking a sharp, metal tool, deep down into the very tender part of the gum beside each tooth; “two – two – three – two – three – four”, she mumbles.

OUTCH! I cry.

“We’re almost through” (she lies through her teeth).

When the hygienist finishes her poking, she begins to ‘water-blast’ my molars. That’s not so bad as long as she doesn’t forget to suck the water out of my gaping mouth. She forgets. I pull on her pant-leg ‘cause I can’t talk. She stops the “water-boarding”.

Gna-gna-gna -I’m drowning! - I gurgle. She sucks – says nothing.

Next, she begins to ‘pick-away’ at the most tender part of a nervous tooth – “What’s happening?” I ask (as if I didn’t know).

“I’m deep-cleaning below the gum line” she snaps.

You sure are – I thought the water blasting was supposed to do that! Not relenting, the picking, scraping, and hurting continues.

“We’re almost done here” she says, trying to sound caring. (she lies).

Next comes the polishing – nice tasting – but the ‘sander’ feels gross!

(She leaves. Am I done? Should I try to escape? Someone new checks in).

“Open wide” he commands.

Aawah gung? I ask with my mouth wide open, while he starts striking my teeth with a little hammer – is he maybe a carpenter someone let in?

He likes the sound of the hammer from this one tooth.

“We’ve got a little, wee cavity here” he chortles, trying hard not to show his delight. “We can fix it today, if you like – it won’t take long”.

Yeah – I’m here now, go ahead. (Why didn’t I keep my mouth shut!)

“This may pinch a little” says the dentist as he sticks the needle into the tender roof of my mouth. (Oh! My God! Another liar).

Don’t you hate the sound of the drill! And the smell of burning tissue as he removes the stuff forming the cavity!

I’m always tense as they are drilling for fear they will hit a nerve.

OUTCH! He did.

“You shouldn’t have felt anything – you’re well-frozen by now” he says, without any apology/sympathy. “Can you feel your cheeks?” he askes.

Yes, I can still feel my face cheeks and my bum cheeks as I’ve been in this chair so long. (that’s what I felt like saying).

“There – you’re free to go”.

Where’s the John?

“Second door on your left” says he.

Now, the really painful part starts (no, not in the toilet), it’s when I go to pay the bill.

“Do you have a dental plan?” asks the sweet, pretty, polite, young, pretty receptionist.

No.

“That comes to $278.50” she purrs.

OK, I gasp. Debit? Do I get a senior’s discount?

“Yes”, she says while calculating. (I was only kidding – I’ve been coming to this Dental Office for years and never got a discount). It pays to ask!

Wish me well. No, pray for me – you get a better audience.

Your Old Uncle Russ.

PS I still have all my original teeth – just like a woolly mammoth.

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

It looks like spring is just around the corner and it can’t come soon enough to suit me! With being stuck in this lockdown for the past year I’m about to lose my cool if I haven’t already! Being cooped up is enough to cause anybody to go off the deep end! Even if you are with people you love you tend to lose your composure once in a while. We all tend to think that it won’t happen to us but it’s quite easy to turn into a grump when we’re not free to go where we want and do what we want at any time like we can when there is no pandemic! IF the Trudeau government would get off their rear ends and make more of an effort to get the vaccination sites and supplies moving like we’re hearing other countries do, things might start to even out and this pandemic would be over much sooner! The latest I’ve heard for the vaccination of us elderly citizens is that we 70 year old folks will have to wait until May 1st now to start to receive our shots! I guess if the supply isn’t here, they can’t give the shots but that’s my point, why aren’t the powers that be working harder to spur the manufacturers into delivering to Canada sooner? Their excuse is that they are ramping up their manufacturing of the drugs by making renovations to their facilities! And that all takes time. IF that’s true, I guess I can understand the delay but it seems their own countries are getting their supplies in good order! SO, what Canada has to do is get off their duffs and build a manufacturing lab of our own! Even if it’s too late for this pandemic, at least if this shit happens again, we’ll be ready to look after our own people when the next problem arises!

Sorry to make it so short and bitter for this week but that’s about all I have stuck in my craw for this time round! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now … Greg

PS: Be safe when you go out and don’t forget to wear your masks!

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