05-21-2026 — Dear Rosy Cheeks
Howdy all. Brr. May 21st and the day started in 40s, and won’t get out of mid 50s. Toss in a little wind, and I was freezing my face off as I took the trash can to the curb this morning. I did stay out a few minutes when I brought it back in around 11 am, to spray weed killer around the yard wherever I saw weeds in crevices or in mulched areas. Ran the jug empty. Ordered a new gallon from Amazon for delivery tomorrow. Along with a gallon of ant killing spray. Lots of mounds out there in the yard. Need to keep them under a little bit of control.
Ah, my dental visit yesterday did not go as planned. After the cleaning, instead of grinding down the fillings on my eye tooth (number 6), the dentist kept examining the real old bridge covering teeth 2 / 3 / 4. He says the molar (#2) has a lot of cavities around the base, and the bridge should be removed and those addressed. Insurance companies give bridges a lifespan of only 5-7 years. Well, this one has been in there since maybe the 90s? Certainly over 20 years old.
So now he is going back to the insurance company to create a plan on how to best resource the fixing of 2,3,4,6. He is slightly afraid that if he tries to repair the cavities under #2, it won’t last, and if the takes off the bridge, it might crumble and leave me needing an extraction/implant(s)/bridge. Lovely.
In other not so fine news, I spoke with a salesman for various Fiber Internet/TV utility options. No AT&T here. No Kinetic here. No Omni here (yet). And no timeline for it to be offered. Well that sucks almost as much as Spectrum Cable has for the last 6 years. I have to think about this some more. They will call me back
And, my HVAC extended service plan is up for renewal. That means they need to come out and do inspection/maintenance on things. Great, while they are here I want them to hook that vent control panel to the same circuit as the HVAC unit, and allow it to be powered by the UPS I have sitting on the floor. Yeah, well, they need to discuss this internally to decide who and how to make it happen. So, they will call me back too.
There must be something good happening, right? There is. When the lawn service did the spring cleanup, they really cut back the dead growth on my roses out front. Like almost to nothing but an inch or three sticking out of the ground. Here is a picture of the red rose bush as of yesterday.
Lots of buds and one already turning red and opening. Yippee.
Other good news, there are still larger critters running around here. You’ve seen plenty of the raccoons and squirrels and bunnies and skunks, but this lady ran by this morning.
She looks like she knows it is time to Enjoy Life
It is now 3:30 pm. ——-
Oh my.... So, the dentist office just called with a lot of bad news. Yes, the eye tooth, number 6, needs to be replaced with that cap still. And now, so does number 7. Thus, instead of $550, it will be $1100 cost for me on my June 4th appointment. Plus another $150 -$200 for pulling the bridge over 2 through 4, and trying to refill the stubs back there.
This is where it gets interesting (that is spelled, E-X-P-E-N-S-I-V-E). If it is possible to "save" 2 and 4, and just put on a new bridge, that bridge will cost me between $1100 and $1350 dependent upon how much insurance is left for this period.
If 2 or/and 4 can't be saved, then it is a trip to the oral surgeon for extraction and implant(s). That would be at least $950 each, dependent upon insurance covering multiple implants at one time. And then, the abutment for each could be another $250, and then the new bridge for $1100 (definitely would be new insurance year by the time that happens).
Therefore, if I calculate correctly, my best case scenario is I will be paying the dentist only (not oral surgeon) around $2500-$2700 this year to fix my upper right side teeth. The worst case scenario has me paying the dentist $1300 plus this year, and around $1600 plus next year, and the oral surgeon around $2000-$2200 this year. That totals well over $5000 by early next year.
OUCH....
At least the Dental industry can Enjoy Life