I Was Thinking...

I’m getting BRACES.

BRACES.

I mean, I know I had an appointment with the orthodontist, and braces are their bread and butter — but I’ve had perfectly straight teeth my entire life. It was just an injury and the misalignment of my bottom front teeth. I figured it would be an easy fix with Invisalign.

It turns out, I’m not eligible for Invisalign, because I wear a bite splint at night due to grinding my teeth. So I have to get braces. BRACES!?!?!?!

The ironic twist is that I only went into the orthodontist because when I recently got the bite splint, my tongue apparently misses cozying up to my top teeth at night. So it plays with my bottom teeth now. And since my bottom teeth are crooked due to the ice cream incident, it’s sharp down there. So now, because of the bite splint, my tongue just fiddles with my bottom teeth while I sleep all night, and basically flays itself open. And because of that, I wanted to get those teeth straightened. (Otherwise I’d just have left them alone, slightly crooked teeth don’t really bother me all that much)

And since I wear a bite splint (which is what started this whole thing), I have to get traditional metal braces. Thankfully, it’s just on my bottom teeth, but still.

WHAT ABOUT PROM!?!?!?

Tomorrow is an oddly nerve-racking day for me. It’s my, “new start” with regard to working at CBT Nuggets, where I can focus more time on doing my actual job. But also tomorrow I go to the orthodontist to start the process of getting my bottom front teeth fixed.

About 5 or 6 years ago, we were on vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. I was eating some ice cream of all things, and somehow while smooshing the ice cream around in my mouth, my top and bottom teeth collided in a crazy horrible crunching, tearing sounding incident. It hurt BAD. We were on vacation, and since none of my teeth were cracked, I just sorta moved on with my day. By the time we got home, my teeth were a bit tender, but they seemed to be OK.

At some point, however, my front bottom teeth started to shift. Now, they sorta overlap one behind the other right in the middle. My dentist said I must have torn something during the injury, and the swelling must have pushed them out of alignment. Then they healed up, and now they are… wrong.

The hope is, that since they were perfectly straight for the bulk of my adult life, something like Invisalign might put them back in place. Right now, the tooth that slipped behind is pretty sharp on my tongue, and I don’t like the way it looks as well. I also hope that since the correction is fairly localized, and seemingly minor, the cost and length of time it takes will both be reasonably low. Tomorrow I’ll find out. Hopefully.

The stress of my last job ending and needing to do well at the new job, along with Donna’s surgeries and recovery, etc., etc., has also made my face think what I really need in my life is a few pimples. Because nothing says, “almost 50 year old adult” quite like multiple pimples on your face.

Sigh.

Today I shaved open a Yorkshire Terrier’s butthole, because her fur had grown long, and dingleberries merged into a sort of cement made of hair and poop, which attempted to spackle off any feces elimination potential.

This is what being an adult means. You’re not a different person. You still feel young and silly. But it falls on you to shave the dog’s butthole when the need arises.

Just FYI.

Well, on Friday we shut down the last of the datacenters I was managing in my last job. It was bittersweet. I did manage to salvage about $250,000 worth of cryptocurrency that would have otherwise gone to waste, so I feel pretty good about that. (No, none of that went to me, but it wasn’t about whether it benefitted me personally. It was about my own integrity. I try to do the best work I can possibly do, and in this case, it saved my employer a buttload of money. The fact that I was earning far less than minimum wage for the work at this point is irrelevant.)

I hope that now I can focus more on my DayJob, which is making training videos for CBT Nuggets. I struggle to find passion in that job anymore, but it pays really well if I actually get videos completed, so if I can get into a steady production cycle, it will mean I can devote non-work time to things I’m passionate about. One of those things is writing…

Here’s the thing: I suspect I don’t write more often because I’m decent at writing. No, I’m not incredible, but I’ve written a lot of professional things, and so when I write something it feels like it should be a good something. And journals aren’t about writing good somethings, they’re literally about putting your thoughts on paper (physical or otherwise). Not all thoughts are bangers. In fact, most of my current “journaling” tends to be just thinking, and anyone who knows me is fully aware that my thinking is fleeting and ephemeral.

I think this tiny little blog, which I’m not hosting (too easy to get distracted with the technical parts), should become my journal. So if you’re reading this, and you’re not me: fair warning, this will likely be boring. Very few bangers, mostly mash. (see? This is the type of humor to expect, but less funny)

Tomorrow is an opportunity for a fresh start regarding work. I told my manager on Friday that we closed up the last datacenter, so I’d be able to focus more on making CBT Nuggets videos. I just need to follow up on that, and do it. Ideally, I could make a skill (the collection of videos which makes a complete “training unit” and is what I actually get paid to complete) every day. If I can do a skill on Monday, and another on Tuesday — that’s sufficient for a full week’s work, and I could spend the rest of the week doing passion projects. And I’ve got a LOT of passion projects I never find the time to do.

Will I be able to start and complete a skill on Monday, then again on Tuesday? Honestly, if I buckle down and do the work, probably yes. That might change when the topics need to be learned, or require more setup. But the two-day work week is actually a feasible, if not ambitious goal. And tomorrow will be my opportunity to start the process.

Tomorrow I actually have multiple appointments that will interrupt my day — but that’s what life is like, so it’s as good of a start date as any. Wish me luck, person reading this. I need it. :)

I’ve never wanted an adult-sized ball pit more in my life life… 😜

As a grandpa with green hair, I have renewed appreciation for Grandpa Shark. 😜🦈

Actual serious post: If you have asthma, use your inhaler BEFORE you do cardio. It makes a HUGE difference. (My doctor recommended it, and I almost always forget)

I’m pretty sure the ONLY good thing about exercising at 5am is that you’re done exercising for the day at 5:03am.

I find the less I use social media, the less I miss social media. It’s almost like it was/is an addiction… 🤔